Spoonful of Sugar
by Ryuniyo
Summary: AU Duo Maxwell is a man that swamps himself with his work to avoid going to an empty home. But how much will his life change once his home isn't quite that empty anymore? After a trip to a strange little pet shop, life isn't the same. 1x2, 3x4, 5x13
1. Default Chapter

Spoonful of Sugar.  
  
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Ryuniyo  
  
A/N  
  
1st GW fic, first fic from the past 3 years...how sad...Um please read and review.  
  
Disclaimer- I do not own GW...I own a half eaten kit-kat bar but do you really want it? Do you? DO YOU?! The only thing I do own in this is probably the plot, characters you never heard of, and Nehkohs...enjoy.  
  
Rating: PG...heh definitely gonna go up.  
  
Summary:  
  
AU Duo Maxwell is a man that swamps himself with his work to avoid going to an empty home. But how much will his life change once his home isn't quite that empty anymore? After a trip to a strange little pet shop, life isn't the same. 1x2, 3x4, 5x13 R/R  
  
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Meet Duo Maxwell. Age 21, chocolate hair, amethyst eyes, and 5'9. Just ignore the fact that he looks like shit at the moment.  
  
"Duo you're working too hard look at yourself!"  
  
Meet Quatre Winner. Age 21, blonde hair, sapphire eyes, and 5'3.  
  
"You-You look like...shit!"  
  
Meet Duo Maxwell again. Still age 21, chocolate hair, amethyst eyes, and 5'8. And still unfortunately looking like shit. His usually neat braid was in disarray and bags hung from his dull amethyst eyes. He slouched deeper into his leather couch which felt plush as a marshmallow, and closed his eyes tuning out his friend's lecture. He knew Quatre had his best interest in mind but at the moment he really didn't want to deal with this.  
  
"And your apartment! Look at it!" Quatre frantically gestured to the floor which was littered with magazines, c.d.s, books and what-nots. "I can't even see the carpet much less even know the color!"  
  
Duo groaned and massaged his head with one hand while the other hung limply over the arm of the couch.  
  
"It's wood."  
  
Quatre looked shocked and began shoving things around with his toe to revel...a shiny oak floor.  
  
"That just proves my point Duo." Quatre stated while shoving more things to the side with his toe. "Why are you even working so hard? Treize said you worked 20 hours just yesterday. There's nothing to even do! The office doesn't need you and everyone's getting worried about your health."  
  
Duo groaned. Yesterday was hell. He drank probably 12 pots of coffee and probably went off to piss twice that amount. So why did he work to the point of exhaustion? Why did he stay up all night just filing and typing away files for the corporation? Maybe it was because he wanted to win employee of the month? Ha like hell...He just didn't enjoy coming home to an empty house, and sit down to eat a meal all alone, and retire to bed and have no one to say goodnight to. He just didn't like being alone.  
  
Sure the brunette had plenty of friends but friends just weren't quite the same as having someone special in your life. And his love life? It's died and that's how it was going to remain. No miraculous resurrection was gonna be in the near future. But he did need someone. Someone to greet him when he come home. Someone who he can relax with and enjoy the rest of the day with. Someone...just someone...If he didn't why the hell would he spend most of his waking hours grueling over stacks of paperwork, reports, and files?  
  
Gah I have no life  
  
While Duo was mulling around in his thoughts Quatre had cleared enough space for himself to sit down. He looked rather ridiculous in a circle of waxed wood while all around him mounds of clutter surrounded him. He knew Duo was lonely but gave up setting him up on blind dates. The brunette was either not interested or things only lasted at the most a couple of months. Duo needed someone to love him unconditional, someone that would need his care and take up his time, someone-no...something! Quatre smiled mentally smacking himself for not coming up with this solution faster. Why it was so simple and perfect!  
  
"Duo...You need a-"  
  
"No I don't need a man, woman, or a mix of the two."  
  
"Pet."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
- - -  
  
"Oh come oooonnn." Quatre whined dragging the reluctant brunette to the suspicious and shady little shop. It was a small building towered over by the buildings surrounding it. It held a Chinese temple like quality and the red paint was chipped off in most places. "I'm getting one too!"  
  
Once bold and elaborate designs were now faded away and impossible to see unless one was at the distance where their nose was touching the wall. There was an archway that led towards steps that descended down to a frosted glass door that made it impossible to see inside. It was on this door that held any indication to the building it led into to be a pet shop.  
  
Abyss Pets and Supplies.: Greeted the two young men in bold gold lettering, Chinese characters ran down the whole length of the door and was foreign to both. Duo began to fidget. Did he really want to do this? Did he really have what it took to raise a pet? Would he even like it?! Quatre sensed the other boy's distress and reached over to squeeze his hand.  
  
"We'll only look around, if you don't see anything you like then we'll just go." Quatre reassured but pleaded, "But Duo...please give it a try."  
  
Duo nodded firmly before taking a deep breathe and grabbing the smooth gold handle, turned, and stepped in.  
  
- - -  
  
Duo and Quatre both gapped as they entered what seemed to be a palace. The small hallway lighted only by small paper lanterns gave away to a room with a high arched ceiling and a marble floor. Lanterns hung all around the vast room and pots of incense could be seen and smelled. Strangely there was no overwhelming perfume-like aroma dominating the air...instead it was more of a natural like quality...like a forest after a deep pure rain.  
  
"Welcome."  
  
Duo and Quatre quickly looked around and found a strange figure seated lazily upon a mountain of cushions on the other side of the room. Upon closer inspection they found it to be a girl with obsidian hair and catlike emerald eyes. She was pale in an ivory like way and was puffing away on a long pipe, clicking the metal mouthpiece now and then against her teeth.  
  
"Are you here to buy a pet or supplies?" She drawled lazily gazing at each boy with a mildly curious stare. Her emerald eyes were inhumanly deep and seemed to change to a different shade every second.  
  
"Um pet." Quatre answered seemingly also mesmerized by the different shades. Slowly the girl took out her pipe and pointed to a door on the far left, she wore a black robe with jade cuffs and stitched designs and it hung loosely on her arm as she pointed.  
  
"Take the door and follow the corridor you'll find assistance there."  
  
With that said and done she promptly ignored the two customers and resumed smoking, staring idly at the far end of the wall as if in deep thought. Duo and Quatre didn't move for a few seconds stunned at the oddity of the whole situation before snapping out of it and obediently making their way towards the high arched door. Like the entrance this door was also frosted yet blank. Duo pulled the knob and the door opened revealing another strange room. This time there was plush white carpet and a gigantic fountain in the middle of the room. The walls were littered with windows that seemed to lead to some kind of sunroom or greenhouse yet the strangest out of them all was the gigantic panda plushie in the corner of the room. It was probably 10 feet tall and was rather intimidating.  
  
"Hi Hi Hi!" Came a cheerful chirp and a shock of white head popped up from the panda's head. "I'll be down in a minute!"  
  
Duo and Quatre watched as the figure jumped down and gracefully landed down a foot from them. It was a boy probably around 18 with wild snowy white hair that was almost blinding to look at. Where the other occupant of the odd pet shop was pale the figure before Duo and Quatre was the exact opposite. He had a healthy gold complexion of someone who spent more time outside then inside and dazzling sharp teeth that was as bright as his hair. The only thing he had in common with the strange girl in the other room was his eyes. They were a deep pair of cobalt which swiftly changed to steel blue then back to a darker shade. They were also disturbingly deep and equally inhuman as the emerald pair the two had seen just moments before.  
  
"Well well well." The strange boy grinned holding out his hand and shaking it with both of his customers. He was decked in a simple white t-shirt and loose fitting jeans with a blue and white apron on top. "What can I help you with?"  
  
Quatre smiled back at the cheerful teen before replying.  
  
"We-my friend and I- are looking for a pet."  
  
"Wonderful wonderful wonderful." The strange boy seemed to have a habit of repeating whatever he said at the start of a conversation. Duo gave off a small smile as ocean blue eyes glanced over him, though the boy was slightly eccentric Duo liked him. "Do you have any clue what type?"  
  
Quatre gave an apologetic smile.  
  
"Not really." He looked over towards Duo who nodded in agreement.  
  
"No prob no prob no prob." The boy grinned before dragging the two over to a table they didn't notice before. "Sit here and drink this." Two small teacups appeared once Quatre and Duo blinked and soon the white-haired boy began pouring a creamy sweet smelling liquid into each. He poured about halfway before indicating for them to drink. Duo carefully regarded his drink before tentatively taking a sip.  
  
It was sweet. Yet not too sweet. Just the perfect amount. Duo swirled it in his mouth to figure out the taste. Peaches...milk...honey...peaches...milk...honey...peach--  
  
"Cat."  
  
Duo and Quatre both looked at each other in surprise as they both simultaneously said 'cat'. Both slowly turned their head back to the front where the strange boy smiled at them mysteriously...and for the first time he simply said.  
  
"It's decided then."  
  
- - -  
  
Duo and Quatre followed the white haired teen as he happily hummed and walked down a sunny hallway. Both sides were purely made out of windows and gave their eyes access to a massive forest. From their short walk both boys witnessed animals from parrots to even an elephant. Strangely what puzzled Duo and Quatre later on when they found themselves thinking of their little trip was how...natural...it seemed at the moment. It wasn't odd that a shabby looking pet shop had elephants, or even a whole forest.  
  
"This isn't exactly your normal pet shop."  
  
Duo stared ahead and met sky-blue eyes that stared at him cheerfully with an underline of somberness.  
  
"So don't be too surprised at what you see here..."  
  
With that said he opened a pair of towering glass doors that led to something strange yet wonderful.  
  
- - -  
  
"HOLY SHIT!"  
  
Neither Duo nor Quatre knew who said this out loud but it didn't matter, they were both thinking it. And at the moment it was all that needed to be said.  
  
They were in a grassy field cut short filled with flowers, trees from birch to palm, and a playground?! While their surroundings would invoke such an outburst what shocked the hell out of both boys was the animals. Or could you call them animals?  
  
Before them roaming the entire field, playing in the playground, and climbing trees were cats...no...little boys and girls...little cat boys and girls. All were various as regular children yet had tails that swayed, ears that twitched, and glove like paws. They romped and played with a kitten like innocence and all soon stopped as they saw the newcomers. Soon Duo and Quatre found themselves swamped with tiny bodies tugging on their clothes mewling to be picked up.  
  
"Nehkohs. An adorable breed no?" The white haired boy cheerful grinned picking up 5 all at once and setting them comfortably on him. Two clung on to him from their perch on his shoulders while the other three happily glomped his arm. "The qualities of a child and a kitten. They may be a lot of work but they're worth it. I believe you two are fit for the job."  
  
Quatre just nodded staring in awe and picking up a orange haired nehkoh who purred in pleasure and rubbed his cheek against Quatre's. The nehkoh was a male and wore an white tank and orange shorts with a hole for his tail free to wave about freely. Gloves the shape of paws adorned his hands, both were the same shade as his hair yet had a darker shade for stripes. His ears were pretty much the same and twitched in pleasure as Quatre scratched behind them, his big amber eyes closed contently and a soothing purr could soon be heard.  
  
"Wow...they're...so...cute..." Quatre muttered continuing to scratch the happy kitten-boy. Duo muttered his agreement as he squatted down and petted and scratched a the Nehkohs that surrounded him. All were unique as a human and kitten and all...although cute...just didn't seem like the right one for him.  
  
"Nehkohs are very friendly...well most."  
  
Duo looked up and found their guide staring off in the distance at a small figure that sat against a palm tree. Duo squinted trying to get a better look. Something was different about that Nehkoh, something drew him to the lone little boy and without realizing it he found himself before the tree in front of the Nehkoh.  
  
Duo fell in love on sight. The Nehkoh was perfect. Dark chocolate hair in a messy style slightly hung over narrowed cobalt eyes which coldly stared back at him. The Nehkoh's ears were a lighter shade then his hair and his paws were crossed over his chest. His attire was a loose green tank and a pair of spandex short, a cinnamon and coffee striped tail lay motionless next to him. The kitten more or less ignored him completely and just stared ahead watching the other Nehkohs swarming over Quatre.  
  
"Che." he snorted glaring at the other cats with disgust.  
  
Awwwwwwww...so cute...  
  
Duo's brain screamed. Despite the Nehkoh's hostile attitude Duo knew he was the one for him.  
  
"I see you've met Heero-chan." Duo nodded muttering 'he's perfect'. "Heero-Chan is quite quick tempered..."  
  
Was it just Duo or did the kitten look pleased?  
  
"You do know once you sign the contract there's no going back..." The white haired boy warned.  
  
"I don't care. He's perfect. There's something about him that draws me in..." Duo stated firmly smiling at the Nehkoh who turned his cobalt eyes to stare at him curiously...and hopefully?  
  
"Very well. Heero come here."  
  
Heero looked up at him defiantly for a moment before lowering his head and giving in. He pushed himself up from his position and sulkily wandered over to the white haired boy. Both held eye contact with each other as if in communication and challenge ignoring their surrounding and the onlooker. Finally Heero lowered his head and huffed before slipping his paws out of the other boy's hands and slowly making his way over to Duo. He gently and seemingly reluctantly tugged on the other boy's pants while looking at the ground and scuffing the ground with his foot. Duo smiled happily as he picked up the other brunette and set him on his shoulder.  
  
"DUO DUO!"  
  
Quatre...Duo had forgotten about his shorter friend. Turning around he found Quatre running up to him happily waving.  
  
"LOOK I FOUND THE PERFECT ONE!!"  
  
Duo felt his smile grow even wider as a pair of paws tightened their hold on him.  
  
"Don't worry Hee-Chan, it's only Quatre."  
  
Duo heard an indigent cough. Like Heero had anything to fear. Egotistically little bastard isn't he? Duo cheerfully thought before scratching Heero behind his ears. Heero struggled not to purr but failed...badly...very badly.  
  
Quatre finally made his way to Duo spending a few minutes to catch his breathe. As he was doing so Duo spied a small brunette cradled in the blonde's arms and watched as a head pop out and shake humorously in Quatre's direction. The Nehkoh was rather adorable but not as cute as Heero in Duo's opinion. It was a male with brown hair in an unusual shape, sharp emerald eyes, and a small kind smile. He gave Heero a little nod which Heero acknowledged with a small 'hn.'  
  
"Isn't he cute?" Quatre cooed nuzzling the Nehkoh who cooed back. Duo grinned and gave them a thumbs up while Heero just stared at Duo's long braid flexing his claws.  
  
"Ah Trowa-kun. Interesting choice you both made." The strange boy walked over to Trowa and ruffled his hair before turning back to face Duo. "So you ready to sign the contract?"  
  
- - - - -  
  
The contract was on an old price of bamboo parchment and held only 5 lines in thin spider like writing.  
  
Do not harm you pet in any shape or form.  
  
Do not sell or give away your pet.  
  
Your pet may not be returned.  
  
Follow the instructions given to you to take care of your pet.  
  
Any rules broken shall be faced with a penalty.  
  
"After you have finished looking over the contract please sign in the space provided." Using his hand the white-haired boy indicated to a line near the bottom marked with a large 'X'. Looking over Quatre's shoulder Duo found him to have an exact replica of his contract.  
  
Could he really do this? Could he provide a good home for Heero? Would Heero be happy? Duo noticed his hand begin to shake and steadied it, he looked over towards Heero whose head was turned in the other direction trying to look indifferent to what was going on around him. Duo studied him. Looking past his cold attitude was Heero as lonely like him? Who knew? But he wasn't going to pass up the chance to find out. With that done Duo quickly signed his name and handed the contract back.  
  
Quatre's was soon to follow.  
  
"Excellent." Slate blue eyes narrowed, all cheerfulness gone from his voice. "The contract is signed and sealed. Follow all the rules and you'll be fine, if not...well let's hopefully never be in a situation like that."  
  
As quick as the chill came it was gone in the next instant. The white haired boy smiled warmly before ushering both customers and their new pets down a new corridor and straight back into the marble room. He gave them a small wink and a thumbs tossed along with 'good luck' and shut the door. Leaving them alone to stand in awkward silence in the silent room...clink...well not entirely.  
  
Clink...clink...  
  
The strange obsidian haired girl was still there, smoking away while clicking her pipe against her teeth. She didn't acknowledge their presence for a few seconds but slowly she turned her head in Duo and Quatre's direction blinking sleepily a few times. Her eyes seemingly changed colors with each blink. First light cool forest green, then dark jade, and finally sea green. Lazily she raised her arm and took out her pipe pointing to a door exactly opposite from the one they had just exited.  
  
"Supplies and Goods." She muttered, but her voice rang clearly through the spacious room. With that said and done she resumed her smoking and ignored them. Duo blinked curiously at the strange girl but forged on ahead his mind racking up various scenarios that his eyes may soon witness in the next room.  
  
What would it be this time? A beach? Maybe a jungle with a huge banana plushie in its midst. Duo prepared himself for some of the weirdest scenarios his brain supplied but he wasn't expecting this...he wasn't expecting this at all...  
  
- - - - - - -  
  
Not sure about Duo and Quatre's height...  
  
Please R&R...gah I'm hungry...bye....


	2. Shopping

Spoonful of Sugar

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Ryuniyo

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Thank You's to…

(Ryu: Oo ppl actually reviewed? faints)

SnakeMistress: Thanks for being my first reviewer! This chapter is probably going to disappoint you though L …so gomen nasai demo arigatou gossamers.

J-Chan-2004: I'll stay sharp as a crayon that belongs to a 5 year old.

SpiketheCross: I enjoyed your review.

Bakagami101: Cookies for me?! OO…TT your so nice…thank you.

BlueEyedAngel2: Yes Neko Chibiness is good…very good.

Redroseprincess678: WHEE I LOVE CAPS TOO! OO…HI?

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Duo was prepared for anything. Another marble floored, insence smoke filled room. A jungle with a large banana plushie, (actually for some strange reason he really wanted to see a large banana plushie…) Hell a chain smoking monkey, bring it on he would be prepared for it! But not this…not a freakin super market!

Seemingly endless rows that went on for miles lay before him. Just like any other super market there were even signs that hung before each aisle describing its contents. There were even small shopping carts to his left that were strangely and coincidentally enough in the shape of blue fishes that looked happy despite the fact that they had 'X's' for eyes.

"Hiya!" Came a cheerful greeting. Duo jumped back from the abrupt salutation that came from an orange headed girl who looked to be the age of 12. "I.K at your service!" She gave them a small salute before spotting Heero and Trowa. In a flash she was cooing and awwing over them. "Wow! Nehkohs!"

She tried petting Heero but he snapped at her and Trowa tolerated it for only the first few pets, after that he glared in warning. "Wow you guys must be special…" She looked up at Duo and Quatre who stared back at her curiously.

"Um why's that?" Quatre asked politely while petting away on Trowa who gave a small content sigh.

"Byakko rarely gives out Nehkohs, he says that they're too hard to take care of for the average stupid human." The girl named I.K. nodded her head as if in agreement.

"Byakko?" Duo asked. "The dude with the white hair?"

I.K. nodded her head vigorously before putting her hands on her hips.

"Okay! Let's go shopping!"

- - -

Duo went towards the fish shaped shopping carts but was stopped as I.K. cheerfully shouted.

"Oh you won't need those! Much too small!"

With that said she rushed over and pulled out another blue cart that was probably twice as big. She handed it to Duo and then dug up another one for Quatre before dragging both boys down to aisle 18: Nehkoh Supplies.

"Alright we'll start off with…hm…utensils! Nehkoh's need their own dishes, cups, spoon, forks. Sporks, chopsticks, knives, ect. Even though they won't be using eating utensils for probably a few weeks. OOoOoh you'll also need to get some towels, shampoo, a grooming brush or two, tooth brushes, tooth paste, floss or mouth wash whichever they prefer and oh yeah! Sippie cup!" The orange headed girl cheerfully turned around and held a cute paw print covered blue top sippie cup. "Isn't it kyooote?"

Duo had his mouth open and flapped it like a fish out of water, trying to voice his thoughts. Quatre wasn't in a better shape either.

"Wha---hold on!" Duo sputtered trying to grasp everything around him. The aisles were racked with ceramic dishes, plates, bowls and so on for the next few miles as far as Duo could tell. "We _need_ all this?!"

I.K. turned her ruby eyes on him, looking confused and slightly angry.

"Are you backing out?" she hissed her eyes turning crimson. Duo looked confused but as if sensing the danger quickly answered no. "Because you can't." She took a menacing step towards Duo who in turn took a step back strangely fearing the small girl.

"Is there a problem here?" A tall boy appeared out of nowhere, tendrils of silky black hair framing his face while the rest was pulled back into a ponytail. He wore all black. Black pants, black silk button up, black rimmed glasses that hung on the bridge of his nose, making his crimson eyes peer over them. He was taller then Duo himself and looked worn-out but still charged with some energy.

"They're backing out." I.K. stated coldly glaring at Duo. The newcomer looked them over studying them before saying reasonably.

"Maybe they're over whelmed." Duo nodded in confirm. "They don't know the basics of raising a Nehkoh."

"Yeah weren't we suppose to get some kind of guide?" Quatre stepped into the conversation.

"Your suppose to receive them from Midori." Seeing the confusion on their faces he quickly added, "Chain smoker." Oh's and Ah's rose in recognition. "I suppose you'll get them once your done getting the basics."

"I have no clue what we're even buying. What the hell was she talking about? Spork? Why a spork?!" Duo ranted grabbing a metal spork out of the bin that was coincidentally near by and jabbing it in front of him so everyone could see.

"I guess…I.K. got a little carried away…" Crimson eyes glared over towards the orange headed girl who had somehow sneaked down towards the other end of the aisle and by now was a tiny dot.

"Um…I'm going to go make dinner bye!"

With that she was gone, only a trail of dust was left in her wake. The obsidian haired boy sighed shaking his head in disbelief. He gave Duo and Quatre an apologetic weak smile.

"I guess it's better this way." He said quietly looking down the long aisle. "I'll explain with the basics. Nehkohs if you want to think of them in a simpler form, not entirely accurate, are like a perfect mixture between a human child, in your case a boy, and a kitten. Probably more so human then a cat. Like any other children they will require the basics. Clothes, toys, shampoo, ect. Yet at the same time a grooming brush, collar, and probably a scratching post even possibly a spork. See you need the basics of both a child and a cat. That's one reason why they're so hard to take care of."

Duo and Quatre nodded in understanding cradling their own respective pets and listening attentively.

"You'll need quite a few things to set you guys off but I'm sure Byakko wouldn't have given you guys Nehkoh's in the first place if he thought that something like this would deter you away. It's not money is it?"

"No."

Hell if anything good came from working those long hours in the office it was the extra money…Duo thought to himself, happy with the fact that he had spent quite an effort the past few years in his work leaving him quite well off. And Quatre…he'd just demand the best, no matter the price.

"Good. Everything you will need to know and want to will probably be in the guide book you'll soon receive, but if not or for a better explanation just drop by anytime. Either I or Byakko and probably Midori can assist. Although I must warn you Midori is less then…talkative. Oh and my name is Touda." Touda smiled cheerfully before waving around towards the numerous goods. "Shall we begin?"

- - -

They started off buying bowls, cups, and what nots. Quatre stacking up quite a pile and standing back with Trowa to see which ones were the best. Duo just rolled his eyes in amusement and simply asked Heero…who just 'hn'ed and stared at him. After coaxing the other to at least give his opinion Duo gave up and went for a simple and cute set of ceramic bowls, dishes, and plates that were navy blue with white trimming with small white paw prints. Simple and neat. There were even matching metal forks, spoons, and knives that were all in the shape of a fish with a sapphire gemstone for an eye.

Quatre on the other hand couldn't decide so bought one of every color, roughly around 22 sets. Halfway down towards their next destination he quickly turned back, dumped the hideous pink, purple and brown, and puke green dishes and came back…only to go back retrieve and ultimately dump them again.

Trowa seemed kind of worried for his owner and petted his hand in an inquiring sort of way.

"I'm fine Trowa-kun." Quatre smiled stroking the other's cheek which brought forth a soft purr. "But thanks for worrying."

Duo looked over towards Heero who gave him a, "don't-even-try-or-I'll-kill-you." glare. Duo wisely backed off and went off to sulk and look over the beds that Touda was standing next too.

"Interesting Nehkoh…kinda anti-social isn't he?" Touda amusedly asked pointing out a few beds that Duo and Heero could agree on. Duo grinned at the taller boy's statement.

"He seems proud of it too." Duo replied before something caught his eye. "Oooh…"

It was a circular bed big enough for Heero to sleep in comfortably but that wasn't what caught Duo's interest the most. It was black. Black silk and if Duo was a Nehkoh he would have loved a bed like this…hell even as a human he would love to have a bed out of black silk.

"Ah," Touda said as he saw the object of Duo's admiration. "Comes with a matching goose-down blanket, and pillows. Excellent choice if I say so myself."

Duo went over to Heero and picked him up, much to his displeasure (seemingly).

"Hey Hee-chan do you like this or do you want something else?" Duo asked holding the brown haired boy close enough to touch the smooth silk.

Heero stared in wonderment…it was so soft…like touching liquid water…_wait no!_ Heero's mind screamed. _Don't get attached…he'll only hurt you. Humans are disgusting creatures…they only hurt and want to control creatures smaller then them! They're all the same…just like him…just like…him…_

"Hee-chan? Hee-chan??"

Heero was brought back to reality and just shrugged. Amethyst eyes studied him worriedly. _Why was this human worried about him? He didn't even know him…_Heero's thoughts flashed back to when he talked with the strange white haired boy…his words came flashing through his mind like a neon sign…

_Give him a chance…don't push him away…he's not like him…not like him at all…_

Was it true?

Heero stared at the braided boy who had such an unique shade of eyes. Amethyst gems that glowed with a soft light of kindness and shards of loneliness. The brunette stared harder as in hopes that if he did everything would be revealed to him. The mask the other boy wore would shatter and break to reveal a hideous monster underneath…but he couldn't. Heero couldn't think of the strange boy as a monster, but the small Nehkoh knew that the boy wore a mask to hide himself…but from what was what Heero wanted to know.

"Is he ok? Is he sick? What's wrong with Hee-chan?!"

Heero broke out of his reverie and watched as his new owner frantically looked towards Touda from answers. Why did the boy care for him…they had met less then a few minutes ago…why? He felt himself being lifted into another pair of arms that held him up to be eye level with the holder. Heero felt himself drowning in crimson eyes that changed from scarlet to dioxized blood.

_Well little one what would you do if your new master got hurt? Would you feel nothing?_

Touda's kind voice echoed in his mind and Heero shook his head, knowing that lying was useless under such communications as a mind path.

_You would feel pain…you've unconsciously attached yourself to him so try not to push him away…Byakko would have never allowed him to take you if he thought either of you would do each other harm or bring pain. Trust us._

Heero nodded once more before relaying a question.

Yes he has passed this portion of the test…but they're still one more…Trust us.

Touda hugged Heero briefly before returning him to Duo.

"Nehkoh's need affection as much as food. Heero in particular is a little hostile but don't worry…he's already attached to you."Touda smiled as Duo stared down at Heero who stared back blankly.

"I promise to take good care of you Hee-chan. If you ever need a hug or anything just pull on my braid." Duo joked before giving him a hug and whispering. "I'll always take care of you."

- - - - - -

Ryu: OO what have I done?! I swear this story is like going off in the wrong direction…oh well. Have a nice day and eat a cookie.


	3. Shopping theSEQUEL

Spoonful of Sugar

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Ryuniyo

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August 9-

Dear readers,

I'm so sorry don't kill me PLEASE T.T....

WARNING:

Dear readers. If you would like to save yourself from my random thank you notes then just scroll down till you see 'STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP'

Notes to...

Redroseprincess678:

Byakko: NO! T.T My secret identity is ruined!!

Ryu: ... -.- ano...what secret identity?

Byakko: She got the whole Universal God thingie!

Ryu: Sorry to break the news to you but your not _that_ Byakko. Although you are loosely based off of him from YnM. Same goes for Touda.

Touda: -.- ...I feel loved.

Ryu: Congratz hime I didn't think a lot of ppl would recognize that. Have a cookie!

The Mysterious "HIM" : And I shall introduce myself. I am-

Ryu: What the hell are you doing here...your not suppose to be here until... rummages around for master copy of 'Spoonful of Sugar'. I have no clue...go away.

The Mysterious "HIM": How rude! sulks off

Bishie Lovers 'R' Us:

Ryu: ...Can I have that pocky now?...

J-chan-2004:

Ryu: Lol thankz for the tip I'll try my best.

Byakko: Your best suckz...

Ryu: Shut up.

Byakko: It's true. Exactly how many stories have you completed the past few years?

Ryu: ...

Byakko: Exactly.

Yura-Yumi:

Ryu: O.O Wow you wrote a lot...so this is for you...

Ryu: I feel like totally screwing up the plot I have now and ruling the world! Here put this on.

Hands Duo a black dress with a funky hat and an oddly shaped black umbrella.

Duo: WTF is this for?

Ryu: I figured I'd bring everyone into submission by a rarely used form of torture.

Duo: And what the hell would that be.

hands Duo a microphone before shoving her ears with earplugs.

Duo: O.o

Ryu: ... O.O ... your not going to wear the dress are you?

Duo: ...

Ryu: Whatever. Now frolic! I demand you to frolic!

Duo: O.o like he- Duo begins to frolic around while protesting.

Ryu: Sing puppet! Sing!

Duo: You little bi- Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down! The medicine go down! The Medicine go down. Just a spoonful of sugar helps the...

Ryu: ... O.o... not only is this funny, it's also disturbing... looks down at Heero.

Heero: ...hn...

Bakagami101:

Ryu:...your too skinny...have another cookie!

Yasei Raiden :

Ryu: sighs Yes if only we could all have Nehkohs...

Random group of Nehkohs: cowers in fear

Ryu: ... O.o whhhhaat?

BlueEyedAngel2:

Ryu: ...Hi? :)

Byakko: What kind of message is that?!

Ryu: Shud up.

SnakeMistress:

Ryu: Oh wise one! I treasure your profound advice!

SnakeMistress's sage advice:

_hey sometimes the wrong way ends up being the right way (as long as you don't kill either of them and leave them deadtwitches especially after like 60 chapters and not telling anyone its a death fic...that tends to PISS people off twitches _

Ryu: Look Touda let's worship her!

Touda: Why me?

Ryu: Because you're based loosely on Touda from YnM you little snake boy you! Whose Ryu's favorite snake boy? Yes you are, you are! pinches Touda's cheeks

Touda: I feel so loved... T.T

Byakko: I LOVE YOU!

Touda: O.O ...

Byakko: I love Touda _thiiiiiiiiiiis_ much! (spreads his arms apart as far as he can.)

Midori: You _so_ ripped that off of Hallmark. up with something original.

Ryu: All of you shud up! We are in the presence of the Great Snake One. I must obey her and quickly work on the next chapter!

Touda and Byakko: O.o

Midori: (starts smoking clink...clink...) look what you did to her. (drags Ryu away...)

Ladytigera21: Hm...I can see the whole PoH connection bute not quite the same ...D owns Leon's butt.

Jane Silver: (read ladytigera21 note) muah...Wuffie's gonna come soon and of course he's a Nehkoh.

Wufei: INJUSTICE!

YaoiCyberCat: haha I had to read your review a few times to figure out wtf was going on . Together we shall bitch and whine to

Rumpelstiltskin:

Ryu: O.O she's watching us!

Byakko:...dumbass.

Ashen Skies: Sorry for any mistakes I made in the previous chapters. I think I pushed a few wrong buttons on spell check. T.T

Missantroop: YOU CALL THAT A FLAME!??! WTF YOU SUX! :)

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Ryu: Thank you everyone who review. And thank you everyone who even considered it! Now here's the story.

WARNING: STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP ...it's save now you can stop scrolling.

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Duo and Quatre were on their third cart by the time they actually hit the biggie...clothes. They had bought cups and dishes, shampoos and towels, there were even special brands of floss, toothpaste, and mouthwash specially formulated for Nehkohs.

"Ok here we go." Touda said walking ahead to a pair of towering glass doors. Upon opening them Duo and Quatre found themselves in a vast room filled neatly with racks and tables loaded with clothes, clothes, and more clothes. A marbled aisle led a clear path to a circular section in the middle of the room where mini sets of 3-way-mirrors stood upon a platform with a velvet curtain to draw when changing. "You can shop around with your Nehkoh and just hand me clothes that you think they would like."

Duo was probably the only one listening. Quatre was off in his own little world as he gazed over the sea of clothing. Trowa looked a little scared at the strange glint in Quatre's eye but stayed put next to him and allowed himself be dragged off to his doom. Duo looked down at Heero who eyed the endless rows and tables of clothing with distaste. Duo sighed clothes shopping for Heero was going to be hard, nevertheless fun.

"Come on Hee-chan." Duo took hold of Heero's glove covered hand marveling at the glove's soft quality and warmth...just like a real paw. Duo could also feel the odd texture of Heero's pads that were a soft seashell pink. "Let's get this over with." Duo smiled hearing Heero's small grunt of agreement and approval.

- - - -

Touda had appeared mysteriously out of nowhere every time Heero and Duo, mostly Duo, found an outfit they liked. So far they had both "agreed", (Heero just 'hn'ed at everything and bopped Duo over the head when he picked out a pink dress) 5 different colored tank tops, that seemingly to be Heero's favorite type of tops, six different pants, 4 t-shirts (one saying Got Sushi?), and 3 formal dress shirts (black, navy blue, and white).

Duo paused never thought that he would ever ask this to his pet...

"Uh...Heero? Boxers of briefs?"

Heero gave Duo a blank stare before pointing to something further ahead, Duo trotted over and found it to be a rack full of boxers. It never occurred to him odd that everything in the store was the right size for Heero. Even the pink dress.

"Boxers it is then."

Duo shuffled around getting bopped in the head now and then as he tried to sneak a few cute boxers into the pile of favorites. Heero gave Duo and particularly hard bop when Duo tried slip in cotton candy pink boxers with candy apple red lips plastered over the butt.

"Oh come on Hee-chan! Pllllleeeaaaassseee?" Duo begged holding up a yellow smiley face boxer. "PPPPLLLLEEEAAAAASSEE? For me?"

Heero just 'hn'ed which Duo managed to translate into: "You-are-so-pitiful-will-you-shut-your-fucking-mouth-if-I-say-yes?!?".

"YAY!" Duo glomped Heero who tried hard not to enjoy it and scowl angrily at the offending pair of boxers, as if it had possessed the amethyst eyed to buy it. "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou."

Duo promptly glomped him.

- - - -

"Just write down your address and everything will be delivered to your home."

Duo quickly jotted down his address and handed it over to Touda who carefully folded it and pocketed it. Duo glanced back at Quatre who was still ecstatically shopping about with a less then happy Trowa. The whole scene was hilarious. It was like a child sulking as he was dragged back and forth by a mother possessed with the shopping demon...or something.

"Well that's about it. Just go on through that door and Midori will handle everything from there, including the payment." Touda pointed to a sapphire tinted glass door with a silver handle. "This is where I say goodbye. Take good care of him."

Duo didn't know who the last comment was directed to. But it didn't matter since it seemed to apply to both of them.

"Thank -"

Touda was gone. The only indication he was there was the faint smell of peppermint that lingered in the air.

"You..."

Duo finished with a whisper and turning around to walk towards the door Touda had indicated earlier. He heard Quatre yell something about calling him later and Duo smiled doubting it would be today.

Suddenly a wave of apprehension washed over him. For some odd reason Duo felt a knot in his stomach which began to steadily grow as he drew closer to the sapphire door. He felt like something was going to happen...something important. Looking down Heero's face was also contorted into something akin to dread. Something was going to happen, Duo didn't know if it would be good or bad but he knew the outcome would change his life.

Reaching for the silver handle Duo turned it...and felt himself fall...fall into a dark endless abyss.

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Ryu: Sorry it's so short but Chapter 4 will be out shortly.

Byakko: That roughly translate to...never.

Ryu: O.o when did you turn into such a cynical bastard?

Midori: Byakko's mad because Touda hasn't responded to his confession. (begins smoking.)

Ryu: ...O.o what am I suppose to do about that?!

I.K.: ...Midori-niisan your going to get cancer.

Midori: ... clink ....clink...still puffing away

Wufei: When am I getting into the story?!!

Ryu: I don't know.

Wufei: Stupid onna! This is injustice!!!

Treize: Ah dragon! glomp

Wufei: INJUSTICE!

Byakko: TT Touda...

(I.K. bothers Midori about cancer in the background. Wufei struggles in Treize's "loving" embrace.)

Ryu: Oo...idiots...where is Touda anyways? looks around and sees nothing Oh well...everyone eat your daily cookie and bye!

Byakko: Ne haven't you noticed how Ryu tried to make the fic look longer by replying to the reviewers?

Ryu: SHUD UP!...gah...if u guyz don't want me to waste your reading time by replying juzz say no. thankz for your support anyways.

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	4. rubba dub dub

Spoonful of Sugar

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Ryuniyo

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Ryu: O.o you ppl write too much. But thanks for your great response!

Byakko: They _so_ saw through your sad attempt to make the story appear longer -.-

Ryu: Believe it or not I had a reason! -puts her hands up in defense- I had to make that chapter so short because it didn't seem to workout very well if I didn't. I needed Duo to fall into the abyss giving some sort of suspense. But I promise you I will _never_ make my chapters that short again. But thanks for your reviews I really didn't expect over 10. Well enough of my blabbing and I'll only respond to a few reviews.

BTW you guys caught on to quite a few things I didn't think you would.

Byakko: Are you calling them stupid?

Ryu: O.O I should just kill you now. No you guys are all intelligent. But seriously it's fun and interesting to read the reviews so thanks again. And I hope this makes up for the last short chapter.

- - - - -

Duo tried to scream as he spiraled down towards nothing, but not a sound escaped. During the fall Duo had somehow lost Heero. Quickly scrambling the best he could while falling Duo looked around and tried to feel for something solid.

_Heero? Heero? HEERO?_

Duo opened his mouth trying to scream, trying to call, but nothing came. No sound escaped. Not only was there eerily no sound Duo couldn't even see beyond his nose. Everything was pitch black. It was like being mute and blind at the same time. The claws of panic dug into Duo's body making him feel a building pressure of nausea and hysteria. Fear's cold kiss caressed Duo's lips making his body feel like lead. Heavy, cold, and dead.

To make matters worse Duo _knew_ someone was watching him. There was no doubt. And this knowledge only added more pressure on his mind that slowly began to weaken. For Duo was only human and to suddenly become blind and deaf and know that someone was watching put too much strain on his mind. Duo didn't know which was worse, the absence of sight or the agonizing scream of dead silence...then it came.

It began like a small trickle of water before growing into a roar of a rushing waterfall. A single voice began to whisper to him, mocking him, and grow in volume and multitude with every passing second.

_Why you lost him already...what makes you think that you can take care of him? What makes you think you can take care of his every needs? What makes you think you'll always be able to be there for him. You've already signed the contract but could you truly not abide by the rules? What happens when you get bored? Will you throw him away like a toy? Treasured for only the moment before neglected soon after? Can you? Will you? How can such a pathetic being like you take care of him? How? If he stays with you he's likely to die. But what would that matter to you...it's just a pet...a thing...nothing more. It'll be nothing like murdering one of your own...a human life. Would you even feel regret? Will you? Would you feel anything? Anything at all. Anything...anything..._

_There was a slight pause before the next question._

_Will you even love him?_

Duo clutched his head as the on slaughter of doubts, fears, and jeers slammed into him one by one. Duo felt like he was going mad. He desperately cleared his mind not noticing that he wasn't falling anymore and that the darkness around him was slowly turning to a lighter shade...a shade of gray.

In a quieter tone the voice quietly asked once more.

_Will you love him?_

**_Yes...Yes...Yes..._**

Duo tried to scream, but nothing...it was useless.

**_Please. Please. I'll take care of him. Love him. Be always there. Please._**

_Duo begged not willing to give up that easily. Unconsciously Duo curled up into a protective ball, hiding himself from unseen eyes. Even though no sound came out Duo's throat was killing him and the pain mixed with fear, (fear of losing Heero, fear of being alone, fear of forever being deaf and blind) brought on tears of hysteria._

**_Please...I...I need him._**

Duo muttered the last part but that didn't seem to matter as whatever binded him seemed to shatter. The first thing he noticed was the sharp stinging of ice cold marble on his face. Then came the relief of sight, it was as if a blindfold was removed and discarded on the floor. Lifting his head amethyst met poison green that seemed to sear fire down to his soul. Duo didn't dare to breathe...he couldn't even if he had tried.

_It had been the strange obsidian haired girl the whole time. All those doubts and questions had been her...but she hadn't spoken at all...at least...not with her mouth. She regarded him coolly her eyes sharp like freshly cut emerald, all traces of vagueness gone without a trace. Finally Duo heard the soft commanding voice ring through his head with a final question._

_Do you?_

Duo gasped as if he had been held underwater and was finally allowed for air.

"Yes...yes...I do."

Duo saw a small smile of respect before darkness collected him once more...but this time it was for sleep. He didn't hear the soft padding of feet nor did he feel the urgent tugging of his braid...Duo had fainted.

- - - -

"Oops..."

"Oops?! That's all you have to say?!"

"Byakko shut up. You'll wake him up." Duo recognized Touda's voice immediately...but why was it so far away? "And Midori...Did you have to go so hard on him?"

"I said oops." Came the sulky reply. "And he's already awake."

Duo felt Touda help him up gently and found himself to be in a giant silk covered bed. A small jar filled with three incense sticks hung above the bed and tendrils of smoke caressed his cheek. He groggily look around him and found that he had quite an audience. Touda stood next to him beside the bed while the strange obsidian haired girl Midori lounged on an ottoman smoking and clinking away while half lidded bottle green eyes watched him. Byakko was also watching him and relief flooded his indigo eyes. It seemed that everyone he had met during his strange adventure in the bizarre pet shop was there...even the orange headed brat I.K.

But where was...Duo felt a sharp tug on his braid that demanded attention, quickly turning around Duo sighed.

"Oh Heero." Duo gathered Heero into his embrace and hugged him tightly. If Duo could relive one of the happiest moments in his life, this would be one of them. He understood everything now...it had been a test and he had passed. He had passed so Heero... "Your mine Hee-chan...all mine."

- - -

Duo had fallen asleep soon after and Touda ushered everyone out of the room. Everyone left quietly but Midori lagged behind quietly walking towards Heero who had become fascinated with the sleeping man's braid. Sensing the obsidian haired girl's presence Heero unconsciously found himself growling. This only caused her to smile.

"You two brats deserve each other." She smirked before holding out a soft navy blue collar. "It's your choice _Hee-chan._" Heero growled at his new nickname. "Take it and you can stay with him. By putting it on you are signing a contract that binds you to him. It's your choice little one."

Heero didn't hesitate, confidently he held out his paw and felt the leather collar being gently placed into his paw, there was a blank gold tag that dangled in the middle but that was all.

"Sleep."

Heero began to feel the tendrils of sleep wrap around him dragging him into a drug like pull of sleep. With the collar grasped in one paw he quickly crawled over and nestled himself against Duo's stomach, with his other paw he grabbed a pawfull of Duo's braid before drifting off to sleep.

"Ugh." Midori stated. "How disgustingly cute."

She quietly walked over towards the door left open by a crack and gently closed it, engulfing the room in a peaceful darkness for the two slumbering dreamers.

"Sweet Dreams."

- - - - -

Duo woke up to the delicious feeling of sunshine and a summer breeze caressing his face. He felt like a child again. Not having to worry about work, responsibilities, chores, and ultimately life in general. He could just happily lie on the white silk bed sheets with a nice warm lump snoozing away on his chest.

Duo giggled. Yes giggled. Heero just looked too adorable curled up on his stomach snoring and pawing the air every once in awhile. Duo considered brushing back Heero's messy bangs but ended up just staring at the snoring Nehkoh.

Duo cocked his head to the left, studying his enigmatic pet...no companion. Heero was more than just your average household pet. Despite the fact that Heero was half human Duo couldn't bring himself to think of Heero as just a pet. It didn't seem right. But this did. This was exactly what Duo had wanted, yearned, and needed. The knowledge that someone would be there when he woke, the knowledge that someone needed him, that knowledge made him happy and full.

Heero looked angelic when he was sleeping. No scowl graced his face and he truly looked like a young child...with a tail, cat ears, and strange paw like gloves. Other then that he was your average 6 year old boy...Yeah right and Duo was the tooth fairy, pink tutu not included.

"Hn."

It seemed that Duo's giggling had awakened Heero who seemingly didn't seem to be a morning Nehkoh. Cobalt eyes glared at him for disturbing the peace.

"Morning Hee-chan."

"Hn." Came the short disgruntled reply followed by a sharp glare.

Definitely not a morning Nehkoh...

- - - -

A knock came from the door announcing Touda's entrance followed quickly by Byakko.

"Morning morning morning!" Byakko pounced on the bed and jumped up and down like a 5-year-old. "Did you sleep well?"

Before Duo could answer Touda broke in.

"Byakko you have a customer, don't piss off Midori again by neglecting you job."

Byakko pouted before glaring at Touda. He gave Duo and Heero a small wave of goodbye before he asked them hopefully.

"You will come back for a visit right?"

"Heero does have to get his shots in about a week or so Byakko." Touda began shoving the other boy out the door. Byakko put up quite a fight by latching himself to the door frame. "You can administer it to him. Now go!"

"Ooooh." Byakko leered and Duo swore he saw an aura of evil surrounding the white haired boy. "That'll be _fun_. I'll see you the-"

Touda literally kicked his co-worker out the door before slamming it shut and locking it. Byakko's curses and complaints could be heard loud and clear as if he was standing right next to them.

"You ass! Now I probably have your damn footmark on my butt!" Byakko screeched. Touda ignored him and turned towards Duo. He pulled out a thick book that seemed to be bound in leather. Holding it up for Duo to see Touda explained.

"This is your handbook. It explains everything you need and don't need to know about Nehkohs. Midori already tagged various chapters that apply to Heero and you don't have to pay anything for the supplies." Touda smiled adding as an after thought. "Think of it as her way of saying sorry for yesterday. She did kind of take it hard on you but she had her reasons."

"But...that seems wrong." Duo protested. "Everything I bought would amount over at least a thousand. Not to mention the price for Heero which is probably twice that amount."

"Money really isn't that important here." Touda said. "And the price for Heero is loving him and taking care of him. I don't understand fully why you _and_ your friend got Nehkohs but as much of an idiot Byakko can be at times he does seem to have a strange sense on matching a good partnership between pets and owners."

"Quatre!" Duo exclaimed having momentarily forgotten about his blonde headed friend. "Did he leave already?!"

"Um...he's still shopping." Touda sweat dropped.

"Poor Trowa." Duo muttered with pity for the poor Nehkoh. He knew Quatre's fondness for pink and could only imagine all the horrors that were in store for the poor Nehkoh.

"Touda." Midori walked through the door. Her robes were pure white with intricate emerald stitching. "Customer."

Touda nodded in understanding before giving Duo a small bow and exiting the room. As Touda left there was a slight awkward silence. Duo nervously looked at the obsidian haired girl while Heero went promptly back to sleep. Midori just looked bored.

"The shower's over there through that door. I'll send someone up with clean clothes. I recommend you give Heero a bath too. After your done bathing I'll escort you down and breakfast will be served."

Midori blinked and gave a small sigh. It seemed that the conversation had taken some effort on her part. Duo recalled Touda saying something about Midori not being very talkative.

_Clink...clink..._

In a flash she whipped out her pipe and began smoking away. It reminded Duo of a baby and its pacifier.

Seeing how the strange girl wouldn't be saying anything anytime soon Duo made his way over to the door she had pointed out earlier. Heero sensing movement woke up and stared at Duo. Having not heard the conversation he quickly feared the worse. Duo was leaving him. He didn't want him at all. Had they told Duo about _him_? Yes they must have. No one would want used goods. No one...Heero would always be alone...

"Hee-chan?" Duo looked worriedly at Heero. He looked dazed and depressed as he sat up from his nest made of the blanket and pillows. Duo had called out to Heero twice already but got no response. Amethyst eyes narrowed as he saw from the corner of his eye Midori looking around for something to throw. Disliking the idea of _anyone_ throwing much less possibly harming Heero Duo glared at Midori who just smoked away and raised an eyebrow in challenge.

Stalking over to the bed Duo quickly picked Heero up and carried him. This seemed to shake Heero out of his self hate. Relief washed over him as the realization that Duo wasn't leaving him managed to be processed through his brain. But where were they going? The way out was over there, why was Duo going towards a frosted glass door? Ok...so if they, Heero gave a small happy smile at the word they, weren't going out then...Ooooh no. No. No. NO!

Heero's fear was confirmed as Duo turned the knob and opened the door revealing a large circular pool with steps. As odd as that was it wasn't quite the oddest. A circular hoop suspended in the air with bars connected to the ceiling provided a constant waterfall.

"Holy shit!" Duo exclaimed as he gapped around. When Midori said shower he expected...well a shower. Not this, he didn't even know wha to call this. Everything was just too bizarre. Even the water looked like the kind you see on islands. A clear crystal blue that shimmered like diamonds.

"The water will be mildly hot." Midori's voice could be heard from the other room. "Pour 3 drops from the orange glass bottle on the black table."

Duo looked around and saw that there were 5 small tables circling a slightly large one with a small tray. All white but one solitary black. Each held three to seven different colored glass bottles, some one solid color, others a mixture of two or more swirled together.

"Take the platter and place all the bottles you'll need on it. All the shampoos are in the single colored bottles, soaps are in the multi spirals."

Another faint sigh was heard. Obviously Midori wasn't use to talking this much.

"You don't talk much do you?" Duo teased but got no reply. Shrugging Duo looked over at Heero who looked petrified. Heero stared horrified at the waterfall and the pool itself. He didn't like water at all. He hated it. Despite the fact that cats _and_ little boys despised water, well when it came to baths, Heero had a keen fear for large bodies of water.

"Heero? You ok buddy?" Duo began to worry as Heero's small frame began to shake. Gently he let Heero down, allowing the younger boy to stand on his own and giving Duo a chance to look at him at eyelevel. "Heero what's wrong?"

Heero opened his mouth but found that he could only mewl in distress. Cobalt eyes narrowed in frustration. How the hell was he going to make Duo understand?

"Problem?" Midori walked in saving Heero the trouble. She looked around with half lidded eyes which quickly widened with understanding. She gave Heero a small smirk. "_Hee-chan_ doesn't like water."

Duo mouthed 'oh' before staring down at Heero.

"Because he's half cat right?"

"Most little boys don't like water either. But no I'm afraid that's not the case. Anyways most Nehkohs don't mind bathing." Apple green eyes glimmered in amusement at Heero's discomfort. "Our little _Hee-chan_ had an incident with another Nehkoh which traumatized him. I forget the other Nehkoh's name but let's just say he wanted to see how long Heero unwillingly, could stay underwater."

Heero snarled at the memory. Damn that Wufei. He didn't have to hold him down _that_ long. To make matters worse for Heero Duo seemed to find this rather amusing and laughed his butt off.

"Poor Hee-chan." Duo cooed and grabbed his paws before giving him a 1000 megawatt smile. Duo leaned closer to the point where their foreheads touched. "I'll tell you a secret that you can't tell anyone else." Duo mockingly looked around suspiciously before whispering into Heero's ear. "I'm afraid of clowns."

Heero raised an eyebrow and 'hn'ed. This was a special hn. This hn meant wtf?

"I'm terrified of them." Duo confessed and shuddered as an image of Bobo the clown pranced around in his mind. "So I'll make a deal with you. I'll help you get over your fear of water and you protect me from clowns. Okay?"

Heero gave him another 'hn' before nodding his head. Duo beamed before hugging Heero.

"Okay! It's a deal you can't back out on me Heero."

"Hnn..."

_Whatever._

_- - -_

_While Heero was taking off his clothes, refusing to strip in front of Duo, Duo had wandered over to the six tables and idly ran his finger over few of the bottles. All felt cold and smooth and had a silver stopper that varied in shape and design as the bottles varied in color. Duo stopped at the orange bottle on the black table. Carefully picking it up he walked over to the edge of the pool. Before he could contemplate how to pour the bottle into the pool without getting wet the waterfall parted like a pair of curtains, allowing room for the task at hand._

Shaking his head in wonder Duo walked over and carefully pulled out the spiral stopper. A burst of orange greeted Duo's nose before it disappeared as quickly as it had come and Duo quickly dropped in 3 drops.

The liquid was colorless but as each drop hit the clear surface of the pool it gave off a small hiss and flash of orange. As soon as the last drop hit bubbles began to pop up and multiply. In less then a minute the whole pool was filled merrily with bubbles that strangely had visible colors. There was probably every color of the rainbow _and _every shade of the color known to mankind. And as if that wasn't odd enough the bubbles still seemed to multiply. Instead of overflowing onto the pristine white and gray marble floor the began to float up. In half the time it took to fill the pool's surface with bubbles, they soon filled the air popping once they reached the top.

"HOLY SHIT!" Duo exclaimed for the 2nd time that day.

"Why are you so easily shocked?!" Midori's head popped out from the door. Duo shrieked wrapping the towel around his waist tighter.

"DO YOU MIND?!"

"There's nothing I want to see so don't get your panties in a bunch." Midori jeered.

"GET OUT!"

"Whatever." Midori closed the door but muttered loudly enough for Duo to hear. "Nothing worth looking at."

Duo just gave her a stiff middle finger before huffing. He turned around and found Heero staring at him with a slight blush. Duo smiled, not that fazed about seeing Heero naked. Heero was just only a kid not a teen or an adult, it would be sick to think perverted thoughts about someone at such a young age. Speaking of which did Nehkoh's grow? If they did how fast?

Duo panicked as a mental image of an older Heero flittered into his mind. Oooh no bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Duo chanted in his mind but it was no good he couldn't get the picture out of his mind. Duo mentally wailed as his perverted mind kicked in and supplied rather naughty pictures. Lots and lots of naughty pictures...

_Oh crap nose bleed_...

- - -

Duo's left nostril was stuffed with wads of tissue kindly provided by Touda. (Midori was too busy laughing her ass off) Heero had been watching the other boy carefully puzzled by the whole incident. He had yet to grasp the significance of a nosebleed which was a good thing for Duo.

Having calmed down Duo looked over to Heero who had planted himself near his feet. Heero sat cross legged and looked up a Duo in mild puzzlement. The whole scene was endearing and Duo mentally chided himself for being a pervert. Still to be safe Duo decided to keep the towel on, his and Heero's.

"You ready Hee-chan?"

"Hnn..."

"...I'll take that as a yes." Duo stood up and unloosened his braid. It was then and there that Heero decided he liked Duo's hair loose and cascading down his back. The rich chestnut locks were silky soft, Heero knowing so due to the fact that he had been toying with it last night. "Oh I almost forgot."

Heero watched as Duo padded over towards the tables where he got the odd orange bottle, Duo began rummaging around uncorked various bottles giving each a small whiff. A small smile graced the amethyst eyed boy's face after sampling a bottle with an assortment of the shade orange. He placed it along with the deep violet swan-neck and lilac bottle. Seemingly satisfied with his choices Duo grabbed two hand towels and made his way towards the pool still going strong with bubbles.

The waterfall that circled the whole pool contained the bubbles inside its perimeter but that didn't stop them from filling every square inch of space available. So to enter Duo had to swat his hand around a few times clearing up enough space for him to see and breathe without getting a soapy colored bubble pop in his mouth.

Slowly submerging his body Duo found the temperature to be pleasantly hot, just perfect. Heero slowly inched his way over giving in to Duo's patient coaxing. His light brown ears began twitching when he was close enough to feel the heat from the water.

"Come on Heero. Almost there...there's nothing to be afraid of." Duo coaxed helping him slowly get onto the first step. The tub had 4 steps, each was like a ring in a ring. Duo was comfortably seated on the 3rd step, the water went up to the middle of his chest, allowing him to comfortably rest his back and arms against the 2nd. The 1st step for Heero already reached up to his hips, and this was just standing up. "Good, now sit down Heero. See? There's nothing to be scared of."

Heero slowly adjusted but didn't let go of his hold on Duo's hair. The water really was pleasant and soothing. Not to mention the bubbles were fun to pop. Each one gave off a pleasing scent, most being fruit oriented. Heero gave a small purr as he popped a bright red which gave off the smell of strawberries. He then soon went after others.

-pop- Blueberry

-pop- Banana

-pop- Apple

A large orange bubble made it's way over and Heero eagerly swiped at it.

-POP- Orange filled the air, stronger then the others and producing a happy mewl from Heero. Duo watched this with interest and fond amusement. Heero was so cute just letting himself enjoy something simple as popping bubbles...then again these weren't normal bubbles.

-pop- -pop- -pop- Heero happily popped all the orange bubbles he could reach, tail happily swishing as the smell of fresh oranges greeted his senses. Duo allowed this for a few good long minutes before gently picking Heero up and turning him around so his back faced him. As much as he enjoyed watching Heero have fun if he didn't get out soon he was going to resemble a prune with long chestnut hair.

"I'll ask Touda if they sell this stuff." Duo consoled as Heero pouted and sulked he seemed to brighten slightly as Duo's comment and reply with a 'hn'. Duo smiled knowing that it was a happy 'hn' if there was such a thing.

Reaching over to the tray he had placed at the edge of the pool Duo picked up the bright orange bottled, popped the stopper, and dumping some of the content into his palm. Lathering it between his hands Duo reached over and began massaging it into Heero's rich chocolate hair. Heero began to mewl as Duo scratched behind his ear. His eyes opened mildly in surprise when the shampoo's scent reached his sensitive nose. Oranges...go figure.

- - -

Duo had finished rinsing out his own hair while Heero watched swing his feet from the chair he was seated on off to the side. Duo had decided on washing Heero up before attending to himself, quickly grabbing a big fluffy white towel, set aside earlier by Touda, Duo wrapped it around himself quickly and got out of the pool. (Heero during this time had his paws covering his eyes.)

Grabbing two more (one for Duo's hair, the other for Heero's) they both step outside into the bedroom. Upon the neatly made bed lay two sets of clothes side by side. One was obviously for Heero and consisted much to Heero's displeasure the smiley face boxers. Besides the boxers the rest of the outfitted was a pair of black khakis, and a crème colored turtleneck. Duo's attire was simple as well. Black boxers, black pants, and a white dress shirt neatly pressed with a black leather vest to finish it off.

Duo handed Heero his smiley face boxers with a chuckle and reached for his and stopped in mid-air. Heero looked up and grinned evilly. The back portion of the boxers had a happy-go-lucky looking clown plastered all over it.

"Oh hell no..."

- - -

Ryu: ...Can anyone seriously picture Heero in smiley face boxers?

Heero: Hn...

Duo: I CAN!

Wufei: INJUSTICE! I GOT SUCH A SHORT PART!!

Byakko: ME TOO!

Ryu: Shut up.

Treize: I didn't get mentioned at all.

Byakko: You just did.

Treize: N-...O.O...hm...

- - -


	5. NOTICE

Spoonful of Sugar

Ryu: OMG I'm so sorry my computer committed suicide, I got dragged off to get needles stuck in me, and I didn't finish my summer HW... -.- ...The next chapter is coming up soon so please be patient. Argh I'm so sorry.

p.s.

Uh...does anyone know how to you MiRC? T.T

If you do please e-mail me, or chat with me on msn.

dark(underscore)disillusionz

my e-mail is also on my profile.

Once again...I'm sorry. At the latest the next chapter should be up in 3 days.

-RYU


	6. War of the Waffles

Spoonful of Sugar

* * *

Ryuniyo

Ryu: I worked extra hard. Aren't you proud of me?

Byakko: No...

Ryu:...die...

Thanks Redroseprincess678 for your help but I still need more TT...haha anyone else good at MiRC? Well I hope you enjoy and I'm sorry for the delay. I'll try to update once a week though ok? Thanks and bye.

* * *

Duo had reluctantly donned the _evil_ pair of boxers, preferring not to go commando. Although Heero didn't burst out laughing, a small smirk plastered itself on his lips, tiny fangs flashing in amusement.

"Shut up or I'll buy that _pink_ dress." Duo threatened menacingly and was pleased at the look of pure horror that flashed across his face. Duo smiled sweetly at Heero who promptly turned his back on him and ignored the grinning boy. "I thought it looked cute on you Hee-chan. Pink is definitely your color."

"Hn." Heero spat at the mention of pink and continued to pretend that Duo didn't exist.

Duo sighed, smiling affectionately at the hunched figure of Heero. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so...peaceful, serene, and happy. He felt full.

_Grrrwwwlll..._

Well...full in the sense of happiness and joy, but Duo would have been a lot more happier if his stomach was.

_Grrwwll..._

Seemingly so would Heero.

"Not only is your mouth loud and obnoxious it seems your stomach is as well." Midori dryly stated as she leaned against the doorframe. "Breakfast is ready, if not burnt along with the kitchen."

Midori turned around without glancing back, particularly not giving a damn if they followed. Scrambling out the door with Heero perched on his shoulders, Duo found himself face to face with a long spiral staircase. Like most things here it was made out of glass. It was smooth to touch like ice and was pleasantly cool against Duo's fingertips which danced across it's surface.

It took quite sometime getting to the bottom, maybe 4 minutes at the most and Duo once again wondered how big the pet shop was. From the view outside it looked tiny and cramped, probably only having the capacity of withholding nothing more then 2 small rooms at the most. But then again as the age old saying went, looks can be deceiving. And for this pet shop nothing more could be more accurate.

They had trodden down a long brightly lit hallway, the source of light was still unknown. There were no light fixtures hanging from the wall, nor mounted on the wall and the hallway was completely windowless. If one went by logic where the absence of light there is dark Duo should have seen everything as clearly as if he was in a small closet. But logic didn't apply here at all. Hell Duo wouldn't be surprised if he saw anyone fly around like superman.

Duo quickly glanced down at Midori's feet and found them disappointingly to be planted firmly to the ground as she walked. Midori. He really didn't know what to think of the strange girl. She didn't seem very young, neither did the word old seem to apply to her. Her long obsidian hair showed no sign of age and her face was like porcelain. Smooth and perfect. Her eyes couldn't even accurately be defined as a solid color since them seem to shift from deep forest green to lime and everything in between.

Her style of clothing were particular too. Duo couldn't pinpoint it's origins other then the fact that it held many mannerism of Asian cultures. In fact everyone he met here was like her. Though from what he could tell I.K. and Byakko were amongst the youngest. This thought led him to another. Were there more people roaming around the vast halls and rooms? If so where did they all share the uncanny traits he found in those he already met?

"Are there more?" Duo asked without realizing it.

"That question is very vague. Are you asking are there more ducks that mice, or more mice then ducks. Maybe your implying that question in terms of food. Are there more fruit then vegetables, or vegetables then fruit? Maybe your applying it in a way where you ask and question and get a question. Are there more questions? Are there more evidence? Are there more reasons?" Midori looked bored as she said this nonchalantly as if describing the weather.

"You know what I mean."

"That also can be labeled vague."

"Your talkative today aren't you?"

"I live to annoy. To annoy I live." Midori said.

"And your doing quite a good job." Duo smiled knowing that when it came to being garrulous he was King.

"Your interesting." Midori said simply having yet to turn his way and face him. "Most people are deterred by silence. That doesn't really seem to be the case with you. That's also an advantage for you since Heero won't be very talkative either..."

_Won't be...as in future tense?_

"What are you talking about?"

Duo saw Midori's shoulders hunch up in annoyance before she stated in irritation.

"Nobody reads the damn handbook!"

They walked on a little more in silence

"Tada!"

The trio stepped into a large circular room with a domed ceiling made of glass allowing sunshine to pour in, in excessive amounts. A large circular table sat directly in the middle, loaded with various dishes. Everything from rice to pancakes, it was a mixture of Western and Eastern culinary. A bowl of fresh fruit sat happily in the middle and the table was set for eight.

"Lookie lookie lookie!" For once it was not Byakko to speak and repeat himself it was I.K. "I did it _all_ by myself." She stated proudly and looked towards Midori as if in approval.

"By that she means set the table." Byakko muttered darkly and glared at the orange haired girl who stuck her tongue out at him childishly...then again she was a child, or at least from what Duo could tell.

"It's not _my_ fault the kitchen _and _your clothes caught on fire." I.K. whined imploring Midori for help. Midori had already situated herself into a comfy chair at the table and was huffing away reducing her world to herself, her pipe, and her breakfast.

"_Yes it is._" Byakko snarled and lightening up as he finally noticed Duo and Heero. "Hey hey hey! Come on don't just stand there sit next to me!"

Byakko dragged them both over to the table made predictably out of glass and pulled Duo down in a comfortable chair while situating Heero into the one next to him. Duo watched expecting just to tips of Heero's ears to be visible but was surprised as Heero rested his elbows on the table. There was no other explanation for it, the chair had simply _grown_ to accommodate its small occupant. Strangely Duo didn't find this weird.

"TOUDA!" Byakko shouted dragging the taller boy out of an arched doorway where Duo presumed led to the kitchen since billows of black smoke staggered out. Touda came out in a pink frilly apron that seemed to represent everything he wasn't. Duo found _this_ disturbingly weird.

Touda as if reading Duo's thoughts muttered 'fire' as if in explanation as he breezed by and seated himself at the table next to Byakko and Midori. His hair was tied in its custom loose ponytail and his attire was completely white.

"I hope you didn't experience anymore blood loss..." Touda smiled politely while his eyes were slightly crinkled in laughter. "WHAT THE!?" Byakko had leaned over and planted a small peck on Touda's cheek he pointed innocently at the apron which Touda forgot to remove. 'Kiss da Chef' was stitched in white in the most girly cursive handwriting Duo ever saw. With a straight face Byakko solemnly stated.

"The apron made me do it."

"Whatever." Touda grumbled lowering his head to hide the small tint of scarlet as he untied the heinous apron and flung it across the room. Byakko just cheerfully grinned and teased Heero while I.K. began a one-sided conversation with Midori. It seemed everyone was waiting, most likely for the last two guests so Duo started up a conversation with Touda.

"How big is this pet shop?"

"As big as it has to be." Touda stated without much care and making no move to elaborate.

"How many people reside here?"

"As many as there has to be." Touda again answered without actually answering.

"How many people are here currently."

Touda smiled a small smile that seemed to say 'bingo'.

"Twenty two hundred."

"Why are there so many?" Duo asked shocked at the number.

"Simple." Touda said, "Each species that we supply have their own specialist to look after them." Pointing towards Byakko he added. "He takes care of Nehkohs and most cat breeds. I usually mind the reptiles but I seem to be minding the supply store more often then not."

"What does Midori do?"

"Midori directs the customers, judges to see if the owner and pet are compatible, and finalizes the contract."

"Wh-"

Before Duo could ask another questions the doors burst open revealing a disheveled...Quatre.

"I'm...sorry...I'm...late." Quatre gave off his award winning smile as he paused to catch his breath. While he looked extremely tired he looked happy nevertheless. Trowa on the other hand looked miserable.

"Quatre?!" Duo exclaimed bewilderedly. "What the hell are you doing here? Did you forget something?"

"They _never_ left." Midori grumbled while glaring at the stack of pancakes as if demanding that they march down to her stomach. "Can we eat _now_?"

"Oooh Trowa sit next to me!" Byakko waved his arms about frantically more or less bouncing up and down in his chair like a 6-year-old. Quatre smiled as he walked over and set Trowa down in the chair next to the eccentric white haired boy. Duo leaned forward keeping his eyes open to see how Trowa's chair was going to accommodate him.

"Don't blink."

"What?" Duo turned towards Touda.

"You just missed it."

Duo looked back and found Trowa staring back at him with mild curiosity and amusement.

"Damn."

Breakfest was a rather terrifying ordeal. Everyone had to battle for their own food. It was a test of speed, aim, and...ok maybe it wasn't that dramatic but it was still interesting nevertheless.

"That's _my_ pancake."

"You ate _my_ waffle."

"I didn't see _your_ name on the damn thing."

"Your's isn't on here either." Byakko brandished a golden brown pancake on his fork like a banner before shoving it into his mouth. Touda gave him a distgusted looked while Midori ignored everyone and alternated between smoking and eating.

"Shopping was so much fun. There were all these clothes that would look great on Trowa. Trowa's just so cute in every color. Especially pink!!" Quatre blabbered on and on about how he spent most of his waking hours the past day scouring the entire clothing depart looking for "The ONE". Seemingly from what Duo could make out of the conversation "The ONE" would be an outfit just the right shade of pink that would looking 'darling' on Trowa.

From the cornor of his eye Duo found Heero swiping at the fruit bowl in the middle of the table. He needed a 3 ft arm extension but have no fear super Duo is here! Duo just hook his head. Did he seriously think that?!

"Hey Hee-chan. What would you like?"

Heero ignored him, determined not to give up. 2 minutes later he dejectly sat down in his chair and pointed towards the fruit bowl and making a circle with his hands. Well banana and strawberries were out of the picture...something round.

"Orange?"

Heero nodded his head and grabbed the orange Duo offered him. Duo watched as Heero flexed his claws and sliced through the rind. He neatly set the rind aside once he was done and preceded to slice the orange until he had 10 pieces total. He looked over at Trowa who seemed to tolerate Quatre's constant mothering until he almost choked on the spoon the blond was shoving down his throat.

"AHH," Quatre hovered over his Nehkoh who was coughing and sputtering. "TROWA! I'M SO SORRY!!" Trowa watched in horror as his owner's eyes began to grow big and watery. "TROWA!!" Quatre threw himself at the considerably smaller boy and cried into his shirt. Mumbled words could barely be heard muchless coherent. "So. Sorry. Please. I'm. Gah. I'm. Sorry. Pleeaase. Don't. Hate. Me."

Trowa's own eyes began to expand at the last words, he smacked Quatre over the head to get his attention and placed a small shy peck on his cheek.

"Aww." I.K. cooed while Byakko grinned and pointedly stared at Duo and Heero who pointedly stared back. Touda just finished off his miso soup stealing a quick glance at Byakko.

"How disgustingly cute." Midori leaned back in her chair and produced a green leather collar from her robe. She stared at Trowa and Trowa held her gaze back in challenge. They finally came to a silent agreement and she tossed the collar over and returned to smoking clinking away.

Trowa had easily caught the collar and shyly handed it to Quatre. The blonde arab stared in confusion but took the collar and gently wrapped it around Trowa's neck and fixed the clasp. The small circular tag began to glow and Duo heard Byakko snicker.

"One collar to rule them all."

"You are an idiot."

"Shut up you two." Touda scolded before looking towards Midori expectantly. Midori ignored him for a good minute or two and the brilliant glow was beginning to hurt everyone's eyes. Midori sighed and finally gave in.

"The contract has been sealed by both parties may only death release you from it."

The collar ceased it's glow and left an enscription in its place.

"Trowa Barton." Quatre began to read out loud. "Owner: Quatre R. Winner."

"He's you're and you're his." Byakko said. "At this petshop the owners aren't the only ones who sign a contract."

Duo looked over at Heero who stared at Trowa with...jealousy? As if sensing his gaze Heero turned and met Duo's questioning eyes. He held it for a minute before looking away as if ashamed.

"Hee-chan." Duo leaned over. "You ok?"

"Midori aren't you going to give Heero his collar?" I.K. asked unaware of Touda and Byakko's uneasy glances. Midori didn't answer right away, she absentmindedly stared at the domed ceiling while twirling her pipe.

"I don't feel like it right now."

With that said she got up and walked out.

* * *

Ryu: Hope you enjoyed. O.O Anyone who uses MiRC help me please. T.T

Byakko: You are pitiful.

Ryu: I like you a lot better in the fic...


	7. FORGIVE ME?

I am so freakin sorry. This has just not been a great year, I've been sick consecutively for roughly 3 months. I had some back injuries inflicted by people who have poor sportsmanship and weight roughly 3 times my own weight. School has been a terror with essays, projects, obnoxious people, lectures, exams, and more obnoxious people. But enough about that. I'm truly sorry.

The story is really out of whack. I had chapters prepared for Christmas, New Years, and Valentines but sadly I am way past the deadline. I tried working around these chapters and move right along but it doesn't seem to be working. Have no fear. One way or another I will finish SOS.

Out of curiosity would you guys mind traveling back in time to Christmas so I can get the story jump-started again starting with Christmas? I will try to update the story within the time frame of two weeks. I'm still sick and I have a few AP exams coming up. So it's going to take some time. Thank you all who wrote e-mails, I was amazed that you guys took the time to send a personal e-mail. So thanks again. The Nekoh of Guilt has effectively clawed onto my back and seemingly will stay there till I update and give it a cookie.

Thanks for being patient. You guys have been great.

Ryu


	8. Cleaning out my Closet

Spoonful of Sugar

By Ryuniyo

Ryu: LOOK ANOTHER SORRY NOTE…nah just kidding. I am sorry but I have the fic with me Muhahahah! Hope you enjoy and I'm sorry for the long wait. Thanks for your devotion and encouragement coughthreatscough.

Ryu

"Your handbook, clothes, and wallet are in here." Touda held up a small black backpack. "Byakko and the others also add their own little parting gifts."

Touda rummaged around in his jacket and fished out a small familiar glass bottle.

"Bubbles." Touda smiled and handed it over. "I think Byakko got you an assortment of sugary goods and I.K. got you a…sippie cup and spork."

Duo and Heero both grimaced.

"Look. I'm really sorry about Midori." Touda began. "It's just the way she's always been. She probably has a good reason for what happened back there."

Duo smiled good-naturedly. "I just haven't proved myself yet. Right Heero?"

"Hn."

Touda watched the duo leave and found himself wondering curiously. Why did Heero look ashamed?

- -

Midori was currently sitting on the roof watching the two dots that were Heero and Duo grow smaller and smaller. It was probably around 9 and the sky was a warm shade of gold and pink. Since it was mid-September the air was chilly and her breath mingled with the smoke from her pipe, which currently hung loosely from her mouth, clenched between her teeth.

Every now and then her gaze would shift from the retreating figures to the short-lived journey of her smoke rings, which grew fainter as they floated further away.

"Oh Heero…" Midori watched her smoke rings disappear into simply nothing, and when the last wisp of smoke disappeared she closed her eyes. "You still don't trust him."

- -

Heero knew Midori was watching. He had felt her gaze upon him the moment he and Duo stepped out of the shop. It was unnerving yet calming at the same time.

- -

"Don't worry Hee-chan." Duo smiled at the shock scribbled over his pet's face. "He's not dead, just sleeping." Setting Heero gently on the ground Duo began prodding the figure face down on the floor. Even with Heero's fine hearing it was hard to hear the soft snoring that was produce by the strange boy.

"Hiroyuki wake up. Come on Shinji's going to get mad."

It was useless Hiroyuki Fujimoto slept on like the dead and this wasn't highly unusual. Since the time Duo moved in he had grown accustom to seeing the slate blue haired boy sleeping _everywhere._ Including his own bathroom. He never figured out _how_ Hiroyuki got in there in the first place and when asked Hiroyuki just looked confused and shrugged. If it wasn't for his roommate Hiroyuki would probably be declared to be in a coma.

"Hiroyuki wake up. Come on wake up." Duo had begun to kick the other boy while hollering in his ear. "WAKE UP!"

"GAH AGAIN!"

Shinji Sakashito came through the front doors of the building carrying an armful of grocery bags. He was tall and slender and very _very_ pissed. He shoved Duo out of the way causing Heero to growl possessively. This soon stopped however, as he watched in horror as the newcomer began strangling and drowning his roommate with a bottle of water. Once the bottle was empty Shinji began smacking the other boy with it.

"You. Idiot. Why. Do. I. Even. Put. Up. With. You!" Each word ended with a smart smack of the plastic bottle, which seemingly didn't do much. Heero was scared and began inching his way to the elevator, Duo wasn't far behind. "GAH! You little shit you piss me off!"

"Heh um…I'm going to go now bye." Duo was frantically pushing the close button while waving frantically. He ceased once the doors were firmly shut. Duo let out a sigh in relief not noticing that he had grabbed Heero's hand, or was it the other way around? "They're not that bad. Hiroyuki's a great guy when he's actually awake and Shinji's just…overprotective?"

"Hn." Heero obviously didn't believe him.

The elevator doors opened to reveal a large hallway with a spacious view of the city at the other end. There were only two oak doors each opposite from the other. Duo's was on the right.

Rummaging around for his keys Duo fished them out of his pocket and quickly unlocked his door and flung the door open.

"Welcome home Hee-chan."

- -

Oh Crap.

Duo had forgotten how much of a pigsty his apartment resembled. There were dirty clothes everywhere, socks in the aquarium, his favorite sweater draped carelessly over the t.v., a pair of his boxers plastered to the window!

"AHH! Heero don't look!" Duo quickly covered the Nehkoh's eyes and nudged him towards his study room away from the chaotic mess in the den. Grabbing things left and right as they went Duo quickly threw laundry off to the side, making the mess even worse. Finally reaching the door to his study room, which was really just an extra bedroom, Duo pushed Heero inside and told him to stay there slamming the door as he left.

Soon the roar of a vacuum was heard drowning out Duo's exclamations of "Wow I didn't even know I had this!", "This isn't mine!", or (more commonly) "EEEWWWWW!".

Despite himself Heero felt a small smile tug on his lips, he found himself genuinely liking the brunette, yet Heero frowned as he recalled earlier this morning. Reaching for his pocket he pulled out a small leather collar and stared at the blank tag. This was his contract; by giving this to Duo he would be binding the two of them together. Trowa did it so easily. Why couldn't he? Duo was kind, gentle, and idiotic at times yet that's what made Heero like him. Duo was so different from his previous owner. Heero's cinnamon and coffee striped tail bristled at the thought of …Him.

Heero shook his head trying not to let his mind linger. He couldn't even remember his former master's name anymore. All he could remember was a smooth silky voice, cold eyes and hands, and…nothing more. His mind was blank. It was as if someone had simply erased his past memories and only small pieces remained. Small-scattered pieces that were so trivial that they meant nothing to him.

So if he couldn't remember anything why was he still so afraid? Why couldn't he trust Duo? Why! Why was he so weak?

- -

Over the roar of the vacuum Duo didn't hear the small wail.

- - -

Well that's it for now. Questions:

Is there a fluff scene coming up? YESH..NO…Don't KNOW!

Will Wufei appear? Don't know yet.

Who is "HIM?" not making an appearance yet.

Relena will she be in here? YES HAHAHAHAH…yeah someone has to screw everyone over. 

Will I update sooN! I haven't the foggiest idea :P I will try hard though , and remember I will never give up on this story much wub

Any gaia people here:P


	9. Nobody

-1Spoonful of Sugar Ch 9

By Ryuniyo

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thanks for being patient everyone! Haha I really had to push this one out, so it may be a bit…ughish…I hope you enjoy it somewhat though. Thanks again for being so patient!

-much wub and cookies

Ryu

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chapter 9: Nobody

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

An hour after Duo initiated mission: Dust Bunny Takedown, there was a loud bang on the door followed closely by a series of polite knocks. Duo made his way over and opened the door revealing Shinya Tsukino and Hiroyuki Kinomoto. a.k.a. man who tried to drown other man with water bottle

"Hey Duo!" Hiroyuki held up his hand in greeting before blinking rapidly in surprise.

The tall honey haired man gawked around the apartment before tentatively asking, "When did you get a new…apartment?"

Indeed Duo's apartment was sparkling and smelly from pine sole, and birds crashed into the Windex abused windows at rather frequent intervals. And to be frank, the whole situation was bizarre for the newcomers.

"Duo…are you dying?"

"WHAT!"

"Well there doesn't seem to be any other reason why _you,_ of all people would clean their apartment. I wouldn't want a dirty apartment when I died. It would be like the underwear thing." Hiroyuki received blank looks and laughed nervously. "Heh. You know…"

"No we don't. Now elaborate, genius." Shinya quirked an eyebrow at his roommate who gave him an exasperated gesture.

"Well would you want to die and be buried in dirty underwear? That's like nasty." Hiroyuki nodded solemnly while Shinya rolled his eyes. Duo just stood at the doorway wondering why he lived in an apartment complex with weirdos.

"So Duo. What's the occasion?" Shinya gestured towards the horribly shiny, pine smelly floor.

"I-…" Duo trailed off. What could he say? Oh I went to this pet shop with these weird people who gave me a Nehkoh. Oh yeah a Nehkoh is basically a half boy half kitten hybrid. Completely normal. Absolutely fuckatardily normal. Heh. Why not. "I got a-"

"HOLY MOLY IT'S ALIVE!" Hiroyuki screamed and jumped into Shinya's arms as he frantically pointed at the evil floor. Why was it evil? It was shiny and pine smelly, that's why.

Slowly trudging around the floor was…Duo's boxers? Indeed, at a steady pace Duo's boxers were moving closer towards the trio and looked rather lumpy. Duo glanced at the study door and saw it to be cracked opened. Smiling he walked over and solved the case of the moving (needs to be washed) boxers.

"Everyone, I want you to meet my…"

_Crap. How would they react to seeing a boy with cat ears! Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap a holic. Crap!_

- - -

"…"

"…"

"…"

If you couldn't tell, the silence was deafening. Duo nervously eyed his neighbors, while cradling a disgruntled Heero in his arms. Shinya looked mildly surprised while Hiroyuki became solemn and almost pensive. Duo could practically feel Hiroyuki's emerald eyes tracing Heero's ears, tails, and paws. Finally:

"What your name?" In an instant Hiroyuki became cheerful and stooped down to Heero's level.

"Hn."

"Wow total opposite of Duo."

"Remember you told us last week about how you were going to take care of your friend's little brother."

Duo just stared at the other boy with a, "huh?" stare while Heero looked bored and began chewing on Duo's hair.

Hiroyuki stared at Duo hard and asked Shinji in a pleasant voice, "Right Shinji?"

"I can't really recollect. It was pretty busy last week. I was barely even home, so maybe." Shinji shrugged and looked at his watch. "I've gotta get going so I'll see you guys later." Shinji allowed Hiroyuki to glomp him before waving good-bye to a confused Duo and an 'I-could-care-less' Heero, who was still furiously chewing on Duo's hair.

As soon as his roommate was out of site, Hiroyuki turned to Duo with a menacing glare.

"Read the _damn_ handbook!"

And with that said, he left.

- - -

Duo stood at the doorway stunned. Did…did Hiroyuki just say handbook! It was obvious that the other boy _saw_ the ears and tail, but he didn't exactly seem wigged out. But how the hell does Hiroyuki know about Nehkohs! Duo shook his head and turned to face Heero…only to be greeted by Heero's spandex clad butt.

Heero's butt: wiggle wiggle.

Apparently Heero had wiggled his way up Duo's shoulder in an attempt to assassinate that infuriating braid. As a result Duo's brain packed up and hitchhiked his way to Las Vegas. True he wasn't _used_ much, but he still deserved a vacation ya know? So in Duo's vacant cranium, this is what took place:

Pervert Chibi Duo: OMGGGGGG!

Morally Right Chibi Duo: NOOOO!

Insane Chibi Duo: WHY ARE WE HERE!

Pervert Chibi Duo: drool

Morally Right Chibi Duo: He's just a child you sicko…he's not even HUMAN…well fully human…

Insane Chibi Duo: I can't see me loving nobody but yoooou for all my life

Pervert Chibi Duo: insert perverted comment here

Morally Right Chibi Duo: beats Perverted Chibi Duo with a spork

Insane Chibi Duo: …You guys do know that Heero is hanging precariously over our shoulder and about to fall down to meet his doom on the evil shiny hiney pine sole smelling floor?

Perverted and Morally Right (haha…oxymoron) Chibi Duo: Oh SHITTAKI MUSHROOMS!

---

So that was one of many conversations that go on inside of Duo's head. Scary no? Anyways…indeed Heero was looming dangerously over the evil floor in a horribly suspenseful manner. You could almost _hear_ the dramatic music playing in your head.

So to cut a very obtuse moment short, Duo came to the heroic rescue and grabbed Heero before he met a very shiny and smelly doom. And Heero to show his gratitude smacked Duo, or as Duo would like to put it-- "Love Tap". Though not many would agree with Duo's assessment.

- - -

**_Nehkoh Hand Book_**

_A study conducted by: _

Duo stared at the intricate signature and quickly gave up trying to decipher it, although if you turned it upside down it looked like a happy hippo. Shaking his head Duo turned to the first page to find a table of content. Now the odd thing was, the table of content was endless. Twenty pages into the book was just pure table of content, which was rather odd since the handbook was only an inch wide. Duo finally decided to turn to the last page: which was blank. He turned to the previous page. Blank again. And again, and again, and again, and again. Duo gave a frustrated groan and looked over at Heero who was taking a nap. _Aww…so…cute…must not…glomp to death…must no…screw this._

"HNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

- - -

Meet Duo Maxwell. Age 21, chocolate hair, amethyst eyes, and 5'9. Just ignore the fact that he has a ridiculously large band-aid on his temple. Hey! I thought I told you to ignore that hideously large band-aid. It's rude to stare. Stop it! STOP IT! Yeah that's right, you better stop it.

Now, after that harrowing experience, if Duo was smart he would have learned his lesson. BUT since Duo isn't smart, he didn't learn his lesson. Case closed. Actually Duo Maxwell is actually on a high intellectual level. He just simply loses whatever brain cells he has around cute, cuddly things. And Heero, although reluctant, is both of those things. Poor thing.

At the moment, there was peace between the two occupants of the room. Heero was granted the right to snooze without being glomped and cooed over, while Duo was graciously granted the right to lick his wound and whimper on the other end of the couch. Bubbles of silence floated by at a leisure rate. They popped and more bubbles came to take their place. Silence. Pop. Silence. Pop. Silence.

Duo yawned. He stretched and his hand brushed against the worn leather casing of the handbook. Remember what he was doing before the epic confrontation, Duo once again mindlessly opened the book and to his surprise found the beginning of an introduction:

Greetings! If you are reading this, then it is highly likely that you are the new owner of a Nehkoh. Now you may have various questions about how to care and what to expect from your Nehkoh. Simply select one of the topics below to acquire more information:

History of Nehkoh

Nehkoh's Needs

Health Care

Growth Rate of Nehkoh

How others react to your Nehkoh

What to feed your Nehkoh

How to get your Nehkoh to take a bath

Duo gave into the strange pull to simply point at a topic, and the first topic he chose was History. To his amazement, upon contact with the paper, the print began to melt away and reform into paragraphs. This is what the first paragraph stated:

_First off you must keep in mind that Nehkoh are neither fully human nor feline. Contrary to popular belief, Nehkohs are not a hybrid between the two. Nehkohs are actually a unique species of their own, but Nehkohs are essentially like a hybrid of feline and human. _

_The evidence of Nehkohs date back to ancient times…_

Ding Dong

Duo looked up as the doorbell rang once more. Heaving himself up Duo staggered lazily towards the door and opened enough to allow his eye to peek through.

"Yes?" He gave a grumpy call.

"Delivery!"

"For…"

"Duo…"

"Maxwell…"

Duo raised an eyebrow at the alternating message. Opening the door some more Duo saw…double? Two identical teens stood before him, it was obvious by their attire where they came from. One wore a dazzling white Chinese shirt embroidered with black thread in an intricate pattern, while the other wore an identical shirt that was black with white embroidery. Both boys were tall and lean with a shock of white hair. Like everyone else at the odd pet shop, both had ever changing emerald eyes. Yet the boys before Duo sent a stronger shock of surrealism than the other employees. Except for IK…that child was just…creepy. Annoying creepy. Creepy, annoying, creepy. Yeah that's about right.

"What are you guys delivering?" Duo asked uncomfortably around the two newcomers.

"Your…"

"Purchases…"

"From…"

"Earlier…"

Again the two finished each other's sentences in an alternating manner and grinned unkindly at Duo.

"Um… Where is it?" Duo asked, as he saw nothing behind the duo. No pun

"Already…"

"In…"

"There."

The twins both completed the sentence together and pointed past Duo, into his apartment. Duo looked back and saw his purchases from earlier stacked neatly in his foyer.

"How di--"

Duo didn't finish his question. There was no need to…no one was there.

- - -

Well I hope that didn't suck _that_ much. It probably did, so sorry TT. Well good news and bad news.

Good News: X-mas chapter to be uploaded on Christmas Day.

Bad News: X-mas chapter to be uploaded on Christmas Day. Run for the hills

Reviewer's Opinion Question:

Why do people who don't like yaoi/shounen ai, read yaoi/shounen ai?


	10. Spoonful of Christmas

Spoonful of Sugar

By Ryu

Chapter 10: Spoonful of Christmas

Enjoy and have a wonderful Christmas!

_- - - - _

_Oh the weather outside is frightful,  
But the fire is so delightful,  
And since we've no place to go,  
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!  
_

Duo felt a warm glow in the pit of his stomach. This would be Heero's first Christmas with him, everything had to be perfect. Looking around his house Duo let mentally applauded himself at a job well done. A huge Christmas wreath hung before the fireplace, the monstrous 9ft tree decked stylishly in silver and cobalt conquered the left corner of the room, and Duo even went through the trouble of hanging garlands that shimmered due to the sheer amount of glitter on it. It would be a pain in the neck to get out of the carpet but who gave a damn! This was for Heero. Hell, toss around pixie dust and Duo wouldn't care, as long as Heero was even _remotely_ amused Duo was happy. It was a rather simple equation.

Happy Heero Happy Duo³

Unhappy Heero Unhappy Duo³

All in all, the whole embellishment gave his house, (dare he say it!) an aura of…coziness. Now that was a word you would never use to describe Duo's home. Pigsty. Yes. Dump. Yes. But cozy! NO. It just wasn't said.

But something wasn't right. Amidst the monstrous tree, glittering garlands, and the enormous stocking with Heero's named delicately inscribed on it…something was horribly wrong.

Duo glared. Something was missing. Something important. Something…HOLY SHIT! THERE WERE NO PRESENTS!

- - - -

"Hiroyuki get the door!"

The brunette groggily stumbled towards the door and cursed whoever was frantically knocking on it. He was having such a nice dream…pies, cakes, parfaits drool…maybe if he begged Shinji enough he would make one of his killer Oeufs a la Neige a.k.a. Floating Islands…Shinji…

Hiroyuki got a distant happy glaze over his eyes and began to drool, though for which reason even he didn't know. Robotically marching towards the door Hiroyuki turned the knob.

"HELP ME!"

- - -

"I'msuchadumbassican'tbelieveiforgotaboutthepresents,whatdoido,whatdoido!"

"…" Hiroyuki concluded that Duo was a very, very scary person. "SOpleasetakecareofHeerowhileIgoshopforhimprettprettypleasewithacherryonthetop!"

"…"

"BYE!"

Hiroyuki found an agitated Heero thrust into his arms while a hectic Duo ran towards the elevator.

- - -

"I know!" Hiroyuki slammed his fist into his palm. "Let's make a gingerbread house!"

"Hn."

Hiroyuki didn't know Heeronese that well but he had a feeling that, that particular 'hn' was a 'hn' of interest.

"Shinji! Can you make us some Ginger Bread?"

Shinji popped his head out of the kitchen entry way and stared at Hiroyuki as if his roommate had grown another head.

"Pleaaaasee! Do it for Heero!"

Shinji stared at the two brunettes before snorting and disappearing back into the kitchen. Heero and Hiroyuki could hear him rummage through the kitchen drawers and heard the refrigerator slam open and close a few times as well. Then, there was silence.

- - -

"Oh crap crap crap. How the hell did I forget to buy presents! Of all things, presents!" Duo moaned as he rushed back and forth from one shop to another. Unfortunately for him, it was twenty minutes past six, and very few establishments were open.

_Where can I get presents? Where can I get presents!_

Duo frantically wondered as each door was locked and led to nothing but a dim interior. The snow was getting thicker, the snowflakes were so delicately large and perfect. It was the kind that was only seen in perfect Christmas Hollywood style, and Hallmark Cards.

- Hour Later-

Duo was cold and dead tired. There were simply no _decent_ stores open, and with each minute ticking away, Duo's chances of finding one worsened. Until he came upon the corner of Willow and Abbot.

It was a quaint establishment, small and cozy with a soft appealing orange light that poured out of its windows and unto the steadily growing snow right outside. There was a simple sign that hung above the door, a wooden one with bold red lettering: The Workshop.

Duo prayed to God that this promising store was indeed open for business. Duo even threw in the promise to actually go to church more than once a year. Creeping closer Duo saw to his disappoint that there was no sign that indicated that the store was open, but then again, it gave neither the indication that it was closed.

Walking closer, Duo felt a strange tingling sensation crawl up his arm. There was something definitely odd about the store. Duo looked to the left and right, all the other buildings were dark and clearly uninhibited by life--other than a possible mouse or two. Taking in a gulp of air Duo steadily marched on forward: He was a man on a mission, shower his kitty with toys.

The metal doorknob was neither bitingly cold or, in fact, quite solid. Duo swore that he felt the object his left hand was wrapped around had twitched or at least shifted upon contact with flesh. Undeterred, Duo turned the knob and walked in through the door.

- - -

"YOU!" was the first thing that spilled out of Duo's mouth.

Clink. Clink

"Merry Christmas to you too." Drawled out a bored voice. Duo merely imitated a fish out of water and sputtered. Midori just looked bored and began chain smoking once again. Decked in white robes embroidered with gold, Midori looked regal as she lounged upon a pile of cushions. Unfortunately the Santa hat rather screwed that notion over.

"Wha…Wh…Ho…GEH?"

Midori just stared at the rather inarticulate young man before her.

"…clink…"

Duo was stunned and was slowly recovering, yet before he could say a word, another person entered the room. The weird thing was, the newcomer looked perfectly and utterly normal. He was an old kind looking man, average in weight and height. He had a grand looking snow white beard and sparkling cerulean eyes. He was dressed comfortable in an Christmassy sweater and slacks. He smiled kindly to Duo.

"Welcome to The Workshop. I have the finest toys from all over the world, all handmade, and of the finest quality. Please help yourself, and look around."

Duo smiled in return and finally looked around him. Though the store had looked small from the outside, from the inside it was fairly large. Wooden shelves were mounted on the walls, and were burdened with the toys from indeed what seemed to be the finest quality. It was as if he had stepped into an old black and white Christmas movie, where all the toys in the toy stores seemed to have been magically made by the hands of elves.

Stuffed animals so soft yet sturdy, delicate wooden figurines that still retained the homey smell of trees, there was even an old fashion train--that puffed smoked and made noises--ran around the premises of the shop. There was nothing made of plastic here, nothing electronic or required batteries. This was pure toys made from sheer skill, patience, and love--not by machines that spitted out countless duplicates of the same toys over and over and over. Everything here was wholly unique.

- - -

The old man watched fondly as his customer browsed through the store with a look of childlike wonder and happiness. Once in awhile the young man would coo and smile as he selected a toy from those which were displayed.

"Wonder, no? To see a young man, an adult travel back to a child like innocent state?" The old man asked the other occupant of the room, who was still smoking away.

"Fascinating, I assure you." Midori drawled lazily, her tone obviously contradicting her words.

"Humans are rather wondrous creatures…" The old man commented wistfully.

"Wondrously frail, if I may say so myself."

"You have such a jaded view on the human race my dear."

"I prefer the animal race. _Humans_ are your forte Sebastian, or whatever you call yourself now."

Sebastian merely smiled and remained silent.

- - -

"Would you like to have those wrapped?"

Duo nodded sheepishly as the old man warmly smiled and whisked everything Duo planned to purchase. He came back soon, empty handed with a receipt and handed it to Duo. Duo looked at it and frowned.

"I'm sorry, this can't be right."

"I assure you it is." The old man smiled, "I've checked it twice myself."

"But…you can't possibly give _all_ that to me for _free_."

"I see no reason why I can't." Another smile.

"But…But…that teddy bear alone should cost at least a hundred. How can you possibly give me the teddy bear, much less everything, for free! Please, please let me pay you." Duo begged, but was denied politely but firmly.

"Christmas is the season to give, money has no meaning to me. Keep the spirit alive and never lose it. That is how you can pay me Duo Maxwell."

With a curt nod of goodbye, Duo found himself gently, but quickly, shoved towards the door with giant bags placed in his hands. Before he could protests, Duo found himself outside the street lit street. When he turned to go back in, Duo found that he couldn't. There was no store, in fact there was nothing there. It was simply an empty ally, pitch black form the absence of light.

With a sigh, Duo began trekking his way home.

- - -

"They're ready."

"Are they now? Rather quick this year, you must thank Byakko for me. He takes such excellent care of them."

"Mm."

"Smile my dear, it _is_ the eve of Christmas."

"Go make your deliveries old man."

"Indeed, the time is drawing near. Until next year, farewell."

"…fly safe…clink…clink…"

- - -

_Silent night, holy night,  
All is calm, all is bright  
Round yon virgin mother and Child.  
Holy Infant, so tender and mild,  
Sleep in heavenly peace,  
Sleep in heavenly peace._

The night was clear tonight. The stars shined brilliantly despite the smog and city lights that veiled them on other nights.

_Christmas is the season to give…Keep the spirit alive…_

Those words echoed in Duo's winter bitten ears. Duo looked down at the bags he was carrying…perhaps he had gone overboard. Too late now though. It didn't strike Duo odd that he had encountered such a bizarre toy shop, after all such encounters had only brought him warmth and joy in his life. Smiling Duo snuggled into his muffler and trudged onward.

_Wait…what was that?_

Duo heard a soft sniffle once again to his far right. Slowly making his way over, the stifled cries began slightly more audible. Finally coming to the source, Duo was surprised to see a child…a tired and cold looking child huddling next to a tree dressed somewhat warmly in mismatching clothes…an orphan.

"Hey…what's wrong?" Duo quietly and soothingly asked as he cautiously crouched before the little girl. Bright amber eyes peered up at him. "You can tell me, what's wrong?" Duo smiled kindly. Whether it was Duo's warm smile or instinct, the little girl opened up.

"Ms. Hi-Hidling sa-said that Santa…wasn't going to…bring any…pr-presents tonight. She..she said he…didn't have enough toys to g-give."

Duo frowned.

_Christmas is the season to give…Keep the spirit alive…_

He looked at the bags placed beside his left knee. He looked back at the forlorn child. He smiled.

"Hey, well guess what!" Duo huddled next to the girl as if he was about to tell her a scandalous secret. "I'm actually one of Santa's elfs!" Amber eyes stared at him skeptically.

"A…aren't elfs suppose to be…my size?"

"I drank a lot of milk." Duo grinned, hoping she would buy it.

"Oh." She whispered quietly, staring at the nice man in wonder. It rather made since, men weren't suppose to be so pretty. Duo's grin widened at the note of acceptance, leaning down again he continued.

"Yup. I may be tall, but I'm an elf!" _Yeah if Elf meant tall, amethyst eyed beings with chestnut braids…if that was so, I fit the shoe pretty well._ "And I'm here with good news! You see these?" Duo nudged the bags next to him. "They're _toys_ made just for _you_ and your friends!"

"Really?" The young girl asked, practically glowing with hope.

Duo nodded sagely.

"Yup! So why don't you help me deliver these?"

"OK!"

The little girl grabbed Duo's hand and quickly dragged him further down the street, down Hamilton street to Harthwood Orphanage.

- - -

Duo left Harthwood Orphanage an hour later. Gloria, the little girl he found on the street, proudly recounted how she found Duo, the Elf. Ms. Hidling had almost cried and didn't stop professing her gratitude at Duo's "generous and astounding" donation. The other adults at the orphanage scurried around to calm the excited children down had likewise expressed their gratitude endless until Duo finally departed for home (6 bags lighter, now only 3 bags hindered him.)

Gloria had cheerfully stood outside the doors of the orphanage and kept waving goodbye to Duo until he was finally out of site. Of course she didn't willingly let him go without Duo swearing to come back and visit her.

_…never lose it…_

Duo smiled. He doubt he could ever lose the spirit of Christmas.

- - -

knock knock

Hiroyuki got up and opened to door, not surprised to see Duo grin back at him and sag against the doorframe.

"Hey." Duo grinned. "Thanks man. For taking care of Heero. He wasn't any trouble, was he?"

Hiroyuki smiled.

"Nah. Perfect little angle. We made gingerbread people. He's asleep right now, so I'll bring him over."

Duo waited patiently and almost died when Hiroyuki came back. Heero was DROOLING! And it was disgustingly adorable. Carefully Duo took the precious cargo from Hiroyuki's arms, and nodded his thanks before turning to leave.

"Wait!" Hiroyuki rushed back into his apartment and pop back out. He held out a paper plate covered with seran warp. "Heero made these…look familiar?"

Gingerbread men with braids…

"Kinda." Duo grinned before heading towards the elevator.

"Merry Christmas Duo!"

"Merry Christmas Hiroyuki."

- - -

Duo placed all the Christmas presents under the tree. Heero was dozing away on the sofa and Duo joined him. When was the last time he truly enjoyed Christmas? He had, at a young age, been living by himself for such a long time…Christmas had always been a painful time of the year-- no one to spend it with, no one to cuddle on the couch with, simply no one. But not this year. No this year, would be the first in many to come, where Duo would never be alone.

The grandfather clock chimed the first of twelve chimes to ring in midnight. Snow that had fallen steadily ceased, and for a moment--just a sliver--time stopped to prolong the magical time between the Eve of Christmas and Christmas Day.

"Merry Christmas Heero." Duo leaned down, and kissed Heero on the forehead. "Merry Christmas."

_We wish you a Merry Christmas_

_We wish you a Merry Christmas_

_We wish you a Merry Christmas_

_And a Happy New Year…_

- - -

Merry Christmas Everyone! I didn't expect the Christmas chapter to be quite as long as it turned out. Well I hope you enjoyed it! I enjoyed writing it!


	11. Singalong

-1- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Spoonful of Sugar

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ryuniyo

Ryu: Hope everyone's having a wonderful spring. Sorry for the late update. Hope you enjoy, I didn't get to work in much comedy this time. Enjoy and please review.

Oh yeah, silly interview for the 1st person to give me the title and artists of the song I use in this chapter. Also would like a silly rendition of it too.

-Ryu

- - -

It had been one week from the odd appearance of the "Delivery Boy Duo" who simply popped in and out in a blink of the eye. Nothing that was considerably odd or bizarre had happened--mind you that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Duo's daily routine now followed a series of rituals that must be executed timely and perfectly. The first thing on Duo's morning agenda was to pinch himself and proceed to a goofy smile when pain flared his poor abused nerves.

It had taken awhile, but Heero slowly warmed up to Duo and slept in the same bed. Or to be more accurate, on the same bed. Instead of actually sleeping under the comforter, Heero stubbornly slept on top of a small throw pillow. Curling up into a tight ball, Heero would sleep--though at some point of the night, Duo's braid would magically appear in Heero's paws.

Even though the Nehkoh was still far from friendly, Duo had never been happier in his life. Now he had a purpose, a drive to go home (much to the pleasure and displeasure of his boss). As soon as the second hand reached its much anticipated destination, Duo was the first out the door. Duo would get so impatient that he would hop from foot to foot, provoking many of his coworkers to wonder if he had some sort of bladder problem.

Besides the odd glances and hushed whispers at the office, everything had been simply blissful…until today.

- - -

_Oh fuck-a-doodle-do_. Duo exasperatedly stared at the black envelope before him. There was no indication of the sender, but upon seeing it Duo had no doubt who _and_ where the letter came from.

Duo glanced at Heero who had become rather obsessed with his laptop. Upon first contact, Heero had practically become attached to the damn thing. Due to his obsession, Heero became very, very good at solitaire. It seemed at the moment Heero was playing some sort of war themed game. Duo wondered if he should be concerned with how eerily well Heero was decimating the enemy.

_Did he just chuckle evilly?_

Duo scrutinized Heero closely, but no emotion flittered across the Nehkoh's face. Passing it off as just his imagination, Duo returned to the letter at hand. It couldn't be anything too bad right? He didn't break the contract or rules, so they couldn't take Heero away from him…right! Sucking it up, Duo quickly tore through the envelope. The odd, smooth, water-like material of the envelope puzzled Duo but he gave it little to no consideration.

A simple card fluttered down and landed face down on the still pine sole smelly floor. Duo bent down and picked it up, balancing on the balls of his feet Duo slowly turned the card over.

Due for Shots.

Was all that was written.

_Hey that's not bad._

Duo let lose his breathe, unconscious of the fact that he was holding it.

_That's not bad at all_.

Oh…was he wrong.

- - -

Duo worked for Khushrenada Corporation--the world's largest technological advancement producers. Khushrenada Corp. was the leader in industrial machinery in the medical field, electronics and communication, along with scientific exploration. Duo worked as an I.M.--Inventor and Mechanic.

Unlike most of the employees at Khushrenada Corp. Duo had three offices. The largest was the Mech. Room which withheld Duo's pride and joy--DeathScythe. Seven loving years, seven long wearisome years all the hardships Duo had suffered didn't matter. His beloved DeathScythe stood tall and proud in the middle of the large warehouse. Of course, very few people at the corporation knew of its existence. Duo would rather die than let his brainchild become the next "A" Bomb.

The Mech Room was mainly devoted to motor-run products of the corporation. Duo was the Head Mechanic, though with the rather large wave of interns Duo was rarely required to be present. Usually in such lapse of demand, Duo would wander over to the Invention Room.

The Invention room was like something out of a vivid dream. Pure white walls with a vaulted ceiling. A glass dome allowed access to the day or night sky, where a large telescope was set and ready to use. Directly upon entrance, the wall in front was filled with various large screens. Each screen projecting a different experiment, or the latest episode or rerun of the Simpsons. Duo wasn't quite sure exactly _who_ programmed that particular screen, but no one particular minded.

Besides Duo, there were 6 other regular occupants of the Invention Room. Duo knew them all by name, but only one by friendly day to day interaction. Jarreth Stanton was a soft-spoken scientist from Britain, and was generally the most productive Inventor out of the seven. Duo mainly just slept in the Invention Room, but the others let that slide. Duo did once in awhile come up with something brilliant, and to hold the title I.M. was something to admire--there were only 3 in the entire corporation.

Duo's last and final office was simply an office. Here, Duo slaved away under paperwork and propositions submitted by mechanics, inventors, or the other I.Ms. Most were requests for grants, and in many of the cases truthfully unnecessary.

It was here Duo was deemed to spend the rest of his shift. About an hour into the stack of paperwork, a soft and polite knock came from the door.

"Come in," Duo mumbled due to a pen in his mouth, "doors unlocked."

Duo heard the door opened and softly click as it latched back into its lock, still not looking up Duo greeted his visitor.

"What can I help you with Mr. Khushrenada on this fine morning?"  
"It's actually 12:01, so it would actually be a fine afternoon, Mr. Maxwell." Came a stern and stiff reply.

_Uh oh…_Duo's mind raced to see if he had blown anything up the past few days.

Silence reigned and proclaimed itself king.

"…Is something wrong Treize?" Duo tentatively asked, lifting his amethyst eyes to stare at his boss. Treize to be frank looked rather, pissy.

"Are you in love?"

"WHAT!" Duo screeched and stood up in shock; empires of paper tumbled and fell to mere debris. Treize's serious air merely grew stronger.

"It's the most logical reason." He exclaimed before ticking off each finger for each reason. "You're practically glowing, you're walking on air, you're grinning for no reason and its scaring the shit out of people. And for crying out loud, you're humming _that_ song." After seeing a more perplexed expression Treize continued. "You know…_that_ song." Seeing no change Treize began to hum, and Treize was well known to have the capability to mangle any song via humming.

"The Winnie the Pooh song?"

"NO! Listen closely Duo!"

"…Some Day My Prince will Come?"

"NOO!"

This continued for quite some time before Treize finally gave in and motioned Duo closer.

"You know…" Treize whispered, as if fearing to be caught uttering the lyrics of _that_ song. "I can see me loving nobody but you for all my liiifee."

"When you're with me baby the skies will be blue for all my life." Duo joined in, rather loudly.

"SHHH!" Treize clamped his hands over Duo's mouth, though with a little too much force.

"Mr. Maxwell I have the grant request from sector 32 an--" Duo's secretary trailed off, stared, and turned scarlet. "Ooooh…I mean OH! I'm terrible sorry Mr. Maxwell and Mr. Khushrenada! I promise you there will be no more interruptions!" With that she quickly slammed the door shut and gave a rather deranged giggle.

"Wai--" Duo groaned, Ms. Fish was the biggest blabbermouth in the corporation, and was going to undoubtedly blow this out of proportion. "Gaah Treize get OFF me NOW!"

Treize rolled off Duo and seemed utterly unapologetic.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Duo exclaimed as he jumped up and fixed his ruffled clothes. Duo turned to glare at Treize, to find him pouting! "Treize are you pouting!"

"No." Came a sullen reply.

"Don't give me that shit Treize." Duo angrily retorted, before stomping over. "What the hell is wrong now? Did you get dumped again?"

"For your information, I haven't been dating in the past 5 months."

_Something is definitely wrong._

"Treize you ok?"

"I'm bored Duo. I'm bored with life. Everything is so dreary and monotone and suddenly you pop up one day glowing like you're pregnant."

"That's a very disturbing simile Treize."

"You know what I mean." Treize growled waving his hand around as if it could convey what he could not verbally. "So why are you so happy Duo?"

"I just got a pet."

"Seriously? That's why you're so ecstatic! From the way you've been acting, everyone one thought you were in love or something."

_I am though._

"Maybe you should try to get a pet, Treize."

"Find me a pet shop where they have a dragon, and I'll pay you a million dollars." Treize mumbled before slumping down near the window. "I'm going to stay here for awhile…just for awhile."

Duo shook his head in amusement, Treize Khushrenada hooky playing extraordinaire.

"Whatever you want, Treize." Duo smirked before rummaging through the mess on the floor, searching for the budget plan he was working on.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That's all for now. Not quite sure about the next update, but I assure you it'll be shorter than the wait for this one was. Please review! Thanks!

Don't forget the silly interview for the 1st person to give me the title and artists of the song I use in this chapter, with a silly rendition of it. )

-Ryu


	12. Once, twice, thrice

-1- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Spoonful of Sugar

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By Ryuniyo

A/N: Ello! wave wave Sorry for the late update but S.O.S. is still alive! Hectic months are coming up so who knows when the next update will be. Thanks for all your support and wonderful comments. Long live yaoi.

-Ryu

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"Left hall, 3rd door. You can't miss it." Midori didn't even spare a glance as she stared off into the murky shadows to her left. The main lobby, as Duo deemed to call it, was filled with incense smoke as usual. Smokey tendrils caressed his face and flirted with his hair. Slithering and weaving in and out.

Taking a left like Midori instructed Duo was unaware of luminous jade eyes watching, staring but Heero did and tightened his grasp on Duo's braid.

- - -

"Right on time Mr. Maxwell." Touda greeted Duo before he had the chance to even twist the doorknob. Touda's smile faltered as he saw the lack of collar around Heero's neck, but quickly made up for his stumble by politely asking for any interest in refreshments.

"No I'm fine, thank you." Duo uncomfortably said, before settling down in a nearby sofa. Why was everyone making such a big deal about the collar? Duo sighed before turning over to Heero, who wouldn't meet his eyes, but tightened his grip of Duo's hair even tighter.

"Hey, hey. Don't be afraid."

Heero gave a derisive snort before turning away.

_Egotistical little brat isn't he_.

Duo grinned, Heero's little antics inducing him into a relaxed state. Finally have settled down a bit, Duo took the time to look around his surrounds. The hallway had been dark, so very little could be seen and admired. Here on the other hand, the room was brightly lit--though not in an artificial way. The actual source of light baffled Duo, there were no light bulbs or any source of electricity in sight. It was as if the room itself generated some sort of light that was as natural as the sun.

It looked like any other vet clinic, though Duo had never in his life had actually been to a vet clinic himself. But everything was as he would have imagined it. A check-in counter was off to the side, three white doors with navy blue trim were next to it, and soft chairs and two couches littered the rest of the room.

There was however, one thing that would never be in a normal vet clinic. In the middle of the room, there was a table laden with tea, pastries, and other things one would expected at a tea party. Everything looked piping hot and fresh, and delicious. Duo contemplated whether or not to help himself when the decision was made for him.

"Duo Maxwell." Touda called out before motion Duo to follow him to the door in the middle. Opening the door Touda let the patient and his owner in before following them in. "I'm going to ask you a few basic questions. Byakko had some other responsibilities to complete, therefore I'll be performing the shots."

Duo nodded and hoisted Heero up to the examination table.

"Now. Has Heero been having any coughing or sneezing lately?"

"No."

"Indigestion?"

"No."

"Odd behavior?"

"No."

"Have you been reading the handbook?"  
"Um…no."

Duo gave a sheepish grin as Touda stared at him over his glasses.

"I see." Duo felt ashamed as if he was being mildly scolded.

"I'll read it soon, I promise."

"I'm sure you will." Touda smiled, though Duo couldn't tell if it was one of amusement or doubt. "Alright then, everything seems to be in order. Heero's temperature is in the normal range along with his blood pressure, fur is in top condition as well as his teeth. Everything seems to be in good health, all we need to do now is administer the shots." Touda smiled secretively over the clipboard, eyes twinkling and daring Duo to ask the question on his mind.

"How…how did you know all that?"

"Duo out of all the odd things you have witnessed in this shop, you're questioning how I got Heero's basic statistics?"

"I-I…" Duo was lost for words, not really knowing how to respond to that…speaking of odd things… "Hey Touda. Do you guys have…dragons in this pet shop?"

"Oh no, that's ridiculous." Duo relaxed finding comfort in the fact that some animals were purely just mythological and creations of the human mind. "A dragon would be far too problematical and big to keep here. You'd have to actual go to Rangna Island, but I'm afraid that was taken down along with Atlantis long ago. Though there have been rumors of--" Touda trailed off thoughtfully by himself, Duo was too flabbergast to make a noise, muchless question. "Besides humans can't take care of dragons at all. The average growth rate for a dragon is…lets see. It should approximately be every 120 years equals one year for a dragon, though it varies with the species."

Duo nodded dumbly, as if he understood.

_Species? As in multiple?_

"Anyways, why do you ask?"

"I…I was just curious, and for the sake of a friend."

Touda just gave a thoughtful 'hm' before wandering over to the glass cabinets.

"Out of curiosity Touda. What's the growth rate for Nehkohs?" Duo asked, wondering if Heero would grow at a fast or slow rate.

"Read the handbook Duo." Touda smiled pleasantly before whipping out a gigantic needle.

- - -

"HHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Outside, in the waiting room.

"Oh dear," Quatre looked down at Trowa who looked slightly dazed at the pained scream. "That doesn't sound good, now does it?"

Trowa simply nodded before snuggling back into Quatre's lap.

- - -

"Well, that didn't go that bad." Touda smiled pleasantly, eyes twinkling with laughter. Duo simply glared. While in the process of holding down Heero, Duo received 10 scratches, 3 punctures in his skin, and one bite mark. Though the bite mark was Duo's own fault. He offered to kiss the "booboo" better, and ladies and gentlemen Heero received the beloved shot in the butt. As you can tell, Duo definitely brought that one down on himself.

With a big band-aid plastered to his caboose, Heero resentfully sat as far as he could from his owner. Touda had handed the Nehkoh a ridiculously large lollipop, and that seemed to have appeased his patient. Duo unfortunately had no peace offering to offer.

"I'm sorry Heero, it was for your own good."

"Hn." _translation: LIES!_

"Come on. When we get home I'll let you have lots of ice cream, and I'll make your favorite food: Sushi!"

Heero's left ear began to twitch, Duo slowly let a triumphant smile creep on to his face--victory was near!

"Sushi with miso, and for dessert you can have green tea ice cream! Homemade green tea ice cream, we can make it together."

"Hn." _translation: I consent, and am pleased with your offering you may now proceed to cuddle me to death._

"HNNNNNNN!"

Looks like Duo needs to work on his translation some more.

- - -

_Elsewhere in the Pet Shop…_

"Welcome. Are you here to buy a pet or supplies?" Midori lazily opened her eyes, and looked through the haze of smoke.

"Pet." Came a curt answer.

"Take that door and follow the corridor. You will find assistance there."

"Thank you." Came a polite reply, which terminated the conversation.

clink…clink

"How very, very odd." Midori stared upwards towards the ceiling. "Three in just one month. How odd indeed."

"What's."

"So."

"Odd."

"Mi-"

"Dori?"

Two boys stepped out of the shadows, arms wrapped around the others' waist grinning like chesire cats.

"Many things." Midori sighed before closing her eyes, darkness consuming her.

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Review thankies:

WCInsane: Why must you tempt me so! anguished cry…grabs cookie and eats it like a chipmunk

ZheM: Sorry, not the song thanks for singing! hands out Heero plushie. There, a wedding gift…

ToboeShi: reads "How to Spit out Stories for Dummies Thank you for your lovely comment and support. Fight the machine! Review, review, review! Teach that website whose boss!

jess-eklom: Hello! The first reviewer for chapter 11, thank you!

Thanks again everyone for keeping this story motivated and driven to go on! Feed me with your wonderful reviews, for they really do inspire the mind and soul.

-Ryu


	13. Wall Street

Spoonful of Sugar

- - - - - -

By Ryuniyo

A/N - Thank you for patiently waiting. I will diligently try to be a few chapters ahead in the future. I'm still being pulled horribly in so many different directions for this fic, so while I organize my thoughts better I hope you enjoy whatever comes to mind. Some point in the future the fluff scenes may be rare, so enjoy it while you can. ominous laugh…enjoy!

- - - - - -

There comes a time in every Nehkoh owner's life when he or she must step up to the plate and prove themselves worthy of being a Nehkoh owner--bath time.

In such times as these the two different natures of Nehkoh's collide and create utter chaos. Felines, in most cases, are very immaculate and on instinct have the urge to remain immaculate. Little boys on the other hand (though it may be argued that males in general) tend to have the "IAP" (Icky As Possible) syndrome incorporated into their brains. Some researchers speculate it to be a hormone secreted by the pineal gland, but most of them are crazy so nobody really listens to them.

The "IAP" syndrome follows a thought pattern such as the following: Ooh, mud! Touch it! Grab it! Throw it! Roll in it! Eat it! It seems that the most prominent action of "IAP" syndrome is rolling. Rolling in anything remotely gooey, sticky, jello-like, slimy, dirty…in summarization--anything "ICKY".

Now "IAP" syndrome is more severe in some Nehkohs. Lucky for Duo, it was practically non-existent in Heero (a rare case indeed). But despite this phenomenon, even squeaky-clean Heero needs a bath. That's where the true test of strength and perseverance begins.

- - -

Duo stared moodily at the horribly cheerful, sunny-yellow duck bobbing in the warm

water.

_He's mocking me._

Duo glared at the rubber duck from China.

_Bastard…thinks he's soo cool because he's yellow, can float, and has a song on Sesame Street. F- You, duck._

Sweet and Sour, as Duo deemed the duck, slowly turned his back and began to bob away.

_Hey! Hey! Fucker, get back here!_

Sweet and Sour paid no heed and continued his set course to the flashy looking bottle of Herbal Essenceã.

Duo grinned, feeling ridiculously pleased at scaring away a rubber duck. His grin soon faded as he heard the rustling of paper--ah yes, back to the problem.

Heero sat on the sink and perused over his copy of Wall Street Journal. Duo found it mortifying that his pet had more sophisticated taste than himself. The mortification lasted only a few seconds before the utter cuteness soaked in and took over his brain.

Shaking out of the haze of fluffy cuteness, Duo sighed and tried once more to be diplomatic.

"Pretty, pretty, pretty pleaseee?"

Heero turns a page, scans the article, looks up and replies, "hn."

"Please Heero, please? Come on, the water's nice and warm! I even have the bubble solution!"

Heero's left ear slightly twitched, but other than that sign of weakness he remained engrossed by an article discussing the correlation between homosexuality and having older brothers.(1) Sighing in exasperation, Duo reached over to grab a leather bound book--the infamous Nehkoh Handbook.

It had been a week since the vet appointment, and Duo had yet to read the damn handbook. He had discovered it made a great coaster, paper weight, and a means to defeat boredom at work (balancing on the head). For some odd reason, Duo couldn't bring himself to actually thoroughly read the book. Something always dissuaded him, and Duo, against his nature, procrastinated his ass off. (Duo is surprisingly good at time management.)

But desperate times, call for desperate measures.

Flipping open randomly, Duo was nonchalant as the heading "How to get your Nehkoh to take a bath".

_Odd…it says how to **get** your Nehkoh to take a bath…_

Scanning down quickly Duo was disappointed by the short entry.

"Ha, ha, ha. You're on your…own." Duo slowly looked up, blinked, and chucked the book right out the door.

"What the fuck…" Duo muttered. "Screw this. No more Mr. Smiley."

Heero didn't even know what hit him…

- - -

Please review, your comments (and bribery) really do fuel authors to write, write, write.

(1) True article. Go read if your interested.


	14. Last Secret Garden

Spoonful of Sugar

- - - - - - - - -

By: Ryuniyo

A/N: The collar question is finally revealed! Thank you for the patient wait, and wonderful reviews. I apologize before hand for any horribly glaring mistakes, and mistakes in general. Enjoy and leave a review to feed the poor, hungry authoress cookies are gladly enjoyed.

_-Ryu_

- - - - - - - - -

"…_fascinating rate that baffles researchers. In the first month of ownership alone…"_

Treize Khushrenada gave a small hum of surprise at this newfound piece of information. Had it really been a week since he stepped into that odd, seemingly little shop?

It seems so more like a dream than reality. Such strange people, such strange rooms, and most of all such strange pets! Treize remembered very little, very clearly. The hazy smell of incenses felt drug-like and relaxed him. The soft, smoky tendrils the incenses gave off caressed every inch of exposed skin; and left the touched skin tingling.

So many dark hallways were passed. Each entranceway was different, though most were made of wood rich in color. Hallway after hallway, many only softly lit by small lanterns that in the cool dark seemed to be floating in the air. It was utterly bizarre and Treize knew without a doubt he was being watched.

It wasn't just by a single being, Treize felt the curious gazes of many on him as he quietly walked down the hallways; turning at will in a manner that would have seemed random but indeed was not. The ginger-haired man didn't know how, but he knew he wasn't turning left and right randomly. Every turn he made seemed to have a purpose, a meaning.

Eventually he found himself in a garden. It was totally unanticipated for there had been no indication of light moments before. Disoriented from the sudden change, Treize sat down on what he found to be a bench and looked around.

It was a breathtakingly beautiful garden. Flowers Treize knew and loved dearly could be spotted but the sheer amount of strange, exotic flowers and plants were what stole his breathe away. Treize was very fond of horticulture but never had he seen such delicate flowers shaped like stars and moons, vibrant in color as precious gems, and scented so heavenly delicate.

"It's a beautiful night." A voice quietly commented to his left. Treize looked to his left but saw no indication of anyone being there. He opened his mouth to protest that it was barely past noon but that died quickly as he looked up.

The sky was in motion. Stars traveled across the inky plain; some fast, some slow. A crystal moon hung like an ornament but it was unlike any moon Treize had ever seen. It was a full moon with a hole in the middle, and in that void was another moon--a crescent moon.

"So delicate, so fragile." The same voice again spoke in a thoughtful tone over in the vicinity to Treize's right. Again, despite the fact Treize had turned to look once the first word reached his ear, no one was there.

"I'm up here." Treize looked straight above him, had there always been a tree there? In a thick branch there was a figure lounging lazily whilst staring at the endlessly in motion sky. Hidden in the shadows, the only indication that the speaker was male was by their voice; but that too was light and soft.

Without a warning the figure sat up and pushed them self off the branch--not a single leaf quivered. Floating down slowly a light crunch was the only indication that the figure was grounded. Finally in the bright light of the moon (or was it moons), Treize got a good look at the mysterious speaker.

Tall, fair, and pale where the first things that came to Treize's mind. The moonlight beaming down seemed to make the pale ivory complex glow. Contrasting sharply was cascading dark violet hair collected in a low and loose ponytail. Decked in Victorian era like attire, the figure seemed almost to have come from a different time altogether. Sharp gray eyes stared directly at Treize, who felt utterly paralyzed, before shifting back to the sky.

"Now. It seems you're here for a pet…" The figure paused before continuing. "It's odd that you've come here. I rarely get customers." The tone was thoughtful and somewhat distant.

"My name is Treize Khushrenanda." Treize felt prompted to introduce himself and felt slightly awkward as no immediate return of introductions came. Finally after quite some time:

"I am Antique…so they say."

Another heavy silence hung in the air and Treize briefly wondered if this was why the strange man had very few customers.

"You are a man who appreciates intelligence, spirit, and integrity. You also like a challenge, do you not?"

Treize nodded his head at the odd assessment and kept quiet. This seemed to have earned a smile and Antique turned his gaze once more directly upon Treize.

"I have the perfect pet for you then." Antique turned around and briskly walked off further into the garden throwing back a quite command to follow.

They walked for maybe 5 or 10 minutes. Antique muttered to himself every now and then, stop to pluck a few flowers before continuing on. Treize had strained to hear what his guide mumbled but soon gave up and enjoyed the site around him. They passed rose bushes, some with roses as small as a pinky while others as large as the width of Treize's outstretched hand. Snapdragons that shimmered in the moonlight with petals that seemed to be constructed of thin, delicate glass.

Treize admired all these and many more before Antique finally stopped and stood still.

"Remain silent." Antique commanded before shifting slightly so Treize could move in and see.

At first, there was nothing particularly exciting. Before Treize was a small clearing. A small pond that bubbled and whispered merrily from a small waterfall was the only source of sound in the otherwise utterly quiet glade. Finally, a faint rustling sound was heard near the far left corner, and soon a strange figure emerged from a bush.

Barely over a foot tall, a strange childlike figure stumbled clumsily and tumbled forward. At first Treize thought it was a trick of the light; for he could have sworn he saw strange catlike ears, but now with its rump up in the air (due to its tumble) there was no denying it--it had a tail.

Other then the strange catlike ears, tail, and from what Treize could perceive as paws (though strange ones indeed) the creature before him could easily pass off as a human child--a little boy. A little boy who was angrily pushed himself up and dusted his pants; scolding himself apparently.

"Is this for real?" Treize whispered, forgetting Antique's order to remain quiet. Antique didn't answer, much less respond, but the strange creature before Treize tensed up and quickly got into a defensive crouch. The now highly visible ears were flattened against obsidian hair and sharp claws gleamed as the moonlight glinted off of them. All in all, the creature was the spitting image of a fuming cat.

"Go," Antique gave Treize a light push towards the clearing, a twig snapped and now the strange creature was hissing. Treize stumbled slightly and turned to glare at the other man, but like a ghost he wasn't there.

_Well no going back now._

Treize thought as he cautiously moved towards the strange creature, whose hissing got audibly more erratic. Raising his hands up as a sign of surrender Treize inched closer at an exceedingly slow rate. The strange hybrid of a child and cat had stopped hissing but was still in a defensive crouch, watching Treize cautiously with narrowed dark eyes, which looked startlingly like cool, dark coal.

"I won't hurt you."

That only received a rather piercing hiss. Dark eyes narrowed into even thinner slits and a now bushy tail slowly began to curl around the body. Despite the odd situation Treize was in, he couldn't help but admire the fiery spirit the strange hybrid before him displayed.

_How can I win his trust?_

Treize quietly pondered, and assessed the problem with the zeal and strategy a general would approach capture an enemy fortress. He would have to show complete submission…there was only one way.

Slowly raising up both hands in a gesture of acquiesce, Treize lowered himself onto the ground in a sitting position at an agonizingly slow rate. Sharp eyes watched unwaveringly and for quite some time nothing happened. Neither party moved. Treize finally let his eyes close shut--the final relinquish of defense. Without his site, Treize was truly exposed to his "enemy".

The silence was deafening. Somehow, even the merrily effervescent waterfall had quietly ceased to mute.

Treize oddly felt at peace. He felt no fear, for once in his life he fell into a deep meditation. Without his sense of sight, his sense of hearing, touch, and smell seemed to have heightened to a degree he didn't even know was possible. He could smell the exotic flowers that lightly perfumed the air, the sweet grass that teasingly played with the nerves on the pad of his fingers, the simplicity and melodious sound of complete, harmonized silence--he never felt more alive.

Treize was startled out of his rumination as a warm, solid weight settled on his lap. Slowly opening his eyes, Treize saw the strange creature curiously stare at his necklace--a heirloom from his family. While the strange boy studied the intricate craft and details of Treize's necklace, Treize got a chance to study the stranger in his lap.

He had a cherub face, small rosy lips pursed in concentration, and wide dark gray eyes. The ears were a similar shade of dark gray, and twitched now and then out of reflex. The once bushy tail had tamed itself and was now sleek smooth, resting lightly against Treize's patella.

"Hello, Little One." Treize whispered, smiling gently down at this amazing creature in his lap. Gray eyes looked up at him, scanned his face, before shifting back down to examine the necklace once more. "If you like it so much, I'll get you one just like it." Treize chuckled as a look of wonder came across the adorable face. Treize smiled before gently reaching up to unclasp his heirloom.

"Take good care of it." Treize said before handing the delicate chain and talisman over to the somber looking boy. Nodding in complete solemnity, wonderfully soft paws (shaped like gloves) gently and with great care lifted the treasure closer for an even more thorough scrutiny. They stayed like this for many hours, though neither one knew…nor cared.

- - -

"Sign here," Antique stepped forward out of thin air with a piece of parchment and a rather ominous looking pen.

"What is it?" Treize asked, becoming accustomed to the strange coming and going of the very strange man. The strange boy had clambered off Treize's lap a few minutes ago, and peacefully lay under the gentle shades of a tree.

"A contract," Antique answered looking Treize directly in the eye. "A contract that can only be broken by _extremely_ rare circumstances--or death. We do not take the ownership and care of our pets lightly, Mr. Khushrenada. This is not a pet shop where the qualification to ownership is money."

"I assure you, you have no need to fear." Treize stated confidently without a hitch in his voice. Antique's message came loud and clear--not through his words but through his eyes: They promised death.

Antique studied him for a few moments; Treize felt uncomfortably vulnerable but held his head up and stood his ground.

"I like you, and I believe you will treat Wufei very well." Antique said quietly and a wave of relief and comfort crashed down on Treize.

_Wufei, is it? What a delightful name._

Taking the strange pen, Treize carefully read the contract line by line; it was rather straightforward. Checkups were mandatory, abuse in any form was forbidden and lead to dire consequences, and the contract could only be broken by a third party, one that is affiliated with the Pet Shop. However, there was one thing that was rather perplexing…

"What does this mean: "_If a full contract is not achieved in the designated time span, the contract is void for both parties._"

Antique seemed pleased that Treize took the time to carefully scrutinize every single statement.

"A full contract requires the consent of both the owner _and_ the pet. This contract binds _you_ to the terms. You agree that you are satisfied and content with the pet. Unlike the pet shops you are accustom to, our pets also have a contract that states their satisfaction and content with the owner. Only when both parties agree to be satisfied and _happy_ with the other is the binding complete. I have given you your contract; Wufei shall receive his contract from Midori. You will find her in the main chamber." Antique paused for a moment, "I think I shall walk with you. It has been rather long since I had seen the others…"

Antique trailed off and seemed to mentally wander off, leaving Treize to contemplate.

Could he handle a pet? What if it did work out? What if Wufei hated him? What if he hated Wufei?

Treize looked over to the tree trunk where the small Nehkoh was sleeping. The site was endearing and wiped all doubt and pestering "what if" questions. Signing his elaborate signature on the provided space, Treize handed the parchment back to Antique who absentmindedly looked over it. Nodding in satisfaction, he took out a strange inkwell pen from one of his vest pockets and signed his name next to Treize's.

Treize found it odd that the ink seemed to cluster and sidle down the parchment. The color was strange--not black but almost a deep, rich burgundy. Finishing off with a flourish, Antique brought the pen to his lips, gave it a lick, and smiled. Without a doubt, Treize knew it was blood.

"Shall we be off?" Antique was still smiling in a disturbing manner.

- - -

Treize tried not to giggle (of all unmanly things to do…) but the urge was strong. He was carrying the small, warm Wufei bundled in his jacket down the long dark corridors, which Antique navigated with ease. Wufei's head was cradled against the crook of Treize's neck, and every time Wufei exhaled, a puff of warm air tickled Treize's horribly ticklish neck. Shifting Wufei gently to avoid a stab at his manly pride and not get strange stares from Antique, Treize felt seized by a spontaneous burst of love.

"Tell me," Treize decided to voice a question that had bothered him since he stepped into the pet shop. "Do you have…dragons here?"

Antique glanced behind him and shook his head. Treize felt a little bit of childish hope dwindle in his heart.

"Far too large. We only have one with us at the time and it causes so much trouble. I'm afraid I know very little in that field, if you are interested to learn more, I believe Touda would be more helpful. He has a penchant for reptilian pets."

Treize gaped and felt shell-shocked.

"Though strangely enough, Wufei here has some ancestral connection with dragons. Wufei is a Chinese Nehkoh, but one from the infamous Dragon Clan. I'm afraid I'm not quite educated in the different types of Nehkohs. For that you should go to Byakko, he's usually in charge of Nehkohs." Antique began to hum lightly, indicating that he was once more drifting mentally away. Treize was content to quietly follow and simply smile to himself.

Looks like he got his dragon after all.

- - -

Treize was shook out of his reminiscing by a sharp tug on his left pajama pants. Looking down he saw Wufei's coal eyes blink owlishly at him. Wufei looked horribly cute in a simple attire of a white pajama set. Treize would have nuzzled the poor Nehkoh to death, but knew better from their first encounter.

"What would you like Wufei? Are you thirsty? Hungry perhaps?" Treize smiled down at the precious addition to his manor. Wufei shook his head no, and presented to Treize a book. During the past few days, Treize had learned Wufei quite enjoyed reading--though he seemed to only have the ability to read at a 4th grade level. Still this amazed Treize who spent a good half of a day hunting down books he enjoyed as a child. Treize would always remember the bright smile that lit Wufei's face when Treize presented to him Wufei's own mini library. Treize had even bought a small book shelf to accommodate Wufei's growing collection of books. It seemed everyday Wufei went through 5 books on his own, and recently Wufei had even come to Treize to read aloud.

"Would you like me to read this to you?"

Wufei shook his head yes, pulled over a nice big throw pillow, and settled down after he handed the rather thick volume to Treize.

"History of Taoism." Treize's eyebrows crinkled slightly at the strange choice of reading material. Mentally shrugging his shoulders, Treize opened the book and began to read aloud. "Chapter One: Lao-Tse: A contemporary of Confucius…"

- - - - -

A whole chapter focused on 13x5. Huzzah!

Just out of curiosity, would anyone be interested in reading side fics regarding the Pet Shop characters? I get more inspiration to imagine and write for "SOS" by discovering more about my own characters. So give me your opinion on this, thanks!

Antique: He just popped up...actually he's always been there...just without a definete role, personality, and form. He's usually drifiting away in though, or just drifting away in general--disappearing for minutes to days. He's oddly informative.


	15. Silent Doubt

Spoonful of Sugar

By Ryuniyo

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A/N : Terribly short and not so sweet but there is something that will hopefully make up for it at the end. Enjoy and please review!

-Ryuniyo

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"Heero gave you that?" Quatre was sitting on Duo's leather love seat with Trowa next to him. The wealthy heir to one of the World's largest oil producer politely hid his snort behind his tea cup.

"I'm glad to see someone finds amusement in my pain." Duo drawled snidely before snatching up a cookie from the plate his neighbor had dropped off earlier. Wincing at the minor stab of pain in his arm, Duo glared at the "My Little Pony" band-aids that littered his right arm. Quatre gave an apologetic smile before reaching for a cream puff.

"These are delicious, Duo." Quatre said around his cream puff. "They're just like the ones from Milton. I haven't been there in quite a long time. It's always jam packed and busy at all hours."

"They should, the person who made them is the head chef." Duo sighed as he watched Quatre fed Trowa a piece of the cream puff. Why couldn't he and Heero be close like that? Duo threw a glance at his bedroom door and gave a low sigh as it remained closed. How embarrassing, his own pet threw him out of his bedroom.

"Oh, really?" Quatre eagerly leaned forward. "Do you think he'll make some more of these cream puffs? Looks like Trowa likes them."

Duo sighed as he watched Quatre gently wipe some cream off of Trowa's blushing face. He was jealous, and he couldn't help it.

"I'll ask," Duo mumbled but frowned as his words were left hanging in the air as Quatre and Trowa continued their cavity-inducing bonding.

- - -

Quatre and Trowa had left, leaving Duo alone in the disturbingly quiet house. Silence was slowly spreading its tendrils through the house once more, suffocating the newly installed air of joy. Duo hated the silence. It had the power to conjure illusions that mocked the mind, driving it mad by its deafening presence.

Sighing once more at the closed door Duo slumped down into the leather recliner.

_Why can't Heero and I get along?_

That thought had plagued Duo throughout the lonely night, causing a heavy feeling in his chest that refused to disappear. Hours had ticked away slowly; night had slowly faded to allow dawn who in turned, bloomed into day--but still no answer came.

He had sat quietly at the breakfast bar forcing cold eggs, bacon, and toast down his throat while sullenly watching the door to his bed room. Despite his pleading Heero would not come out from his sanctuary to eat breakfast. So Duo switched tactics and tried bribing his pet by cooking Heero's favorite breakfast--pancakes. That too failed. Duo had waited hours but the waiting had been in vain. Heero was not coming out, no matter what.

Duo felt something inside him die.

The silence encased him.

- - -

Short, not sappy I know. Sorry but I have something to offer you as a peace offering. The first SOS side is up. You can find the link on my profile.

Once Upon A Time will be a series pertaining to the Shop Characters. Each chapter will be dedicated to a character and be about their past. Most will be dark though, and I assure you SOS will not be sugar and spice, and everything nice all the way to the end. It'll be a happy ending of course but…you'll see. :Grin:

Things to look forward to…

Bring your Nehkoh to work day!

Tea Party at Three

Ominous dream

Crank that cuteness up a notch!

Review please. . Feed the hungry author! BTW Modified Tam, don't die on me. The guilt would be too heavy…:P


	16. Round

Spoonful of Sugar

* * *

Ryuniyo

Chapter 16: Round

A/N – Not much to say. Everything is at the bottom. Enjoy and review please.

Ryuniyo

* * *

"You look like shit."

Meet Duo Maxwell. Chocolate hair, amethyst eyes, and 5'9. It's hard to ignore the fact that he looks like shit at the moment.

"You seriously look like shit."

Meet Treize Khushrenada. Honey brown hair, dark brown eyes, and 6'1. He doesn't look like shit. But that's not very surprising since Treize takes pride in looking impeccably neat and trim…like a shrubbery.

"And what's up with those band-aids? Aren't those 'My Pukey Pony' or some other nonsense like that?"

"'My Pretty Pony', Treize." Duo growled, unfortunately drowning down a mug of coffee simultaneously--resulting in a series of hacking, gasping, and imitating a beached fish. There was much flapping and wild gesticulations going on. The most prominent gesticulation was the ever famous 'bird' that was directed to Treize who simply sat on his ass and laughed at poor Duo's dilemma.

"Now you look more like shit!" Treize exclaimed, wiping a tear from his eye. "So what happened?"

"Heero is PMS-ing or something." Duo yawned and slumped back into his office chair.

"Ah." Treize commented, bringing his knees up to his chest; looking oddly vulnerable.

Treize and Duo had talked earlier about their newly acquired pets. Duo was surprised about Antique, the newest member of the store of his knowledge.

"_It was rather odd when we made it back to the main foyer. Midori--I think that's her name--kind of froze in her seat and stared at Antique…she seemed almost afraid…or something." _

Duo couldn't imagine Midori being afraid, or show any lively emotion. She just seemed to just sit there on her mountain of pillows and smoke. Clink, puff, clink, puff…it was a rather soothing pattern.

Anyways, Duo had begun to once more feel the tendrils of jealousy grip him as Treize describe all the things he and his pet--Wufei--did over the course of two days: read books together, go shopping, and fish. It wasn't really fishing, it was more like Wufei sat in front of Treize's expensive aquarium and swipe at the defenseless fishies. These fish cost about a months' worth of Duo's pay (and Duo had quite a well paying job) but Treize didn't seem to mind since he got to give Wufei a bath afterwards. (Duo was particularly envious of the fact that Treize had gone through the 'bathing' trial unscathed.)

Apparently Treize was also trying to teach Wufei how the play the piano, while Treize himself tried to learn how to cook Chinese cuisine. This was rather an impossible task, since Treize usually screwed up a dish by adding sugar instead of salt, or salt instead of sugar. Sometimes he really screws up and adds baking powder to the dish.

"So he's still moping away?" Treize asked. Over the course of silence, he had somehow managed to take off his shoes and stare idly at his wiggling toes.

"Yeah." Duo answered absentmindedly. Heero had once more refused to leave Duo's bedroom, leaving Duo with the option to set aside some food and just head off to work.

"Maybe he's sick?" Treize tossed out.

Horrifying images of Heero wasting away in Duo's room flashed through Duo's mind. Each image was more horrifying than the last, and for some odd reason Sweet & Sour, the rubber duck, was in each and everyone of them. Staring down with an evil smirk on its rubber beak and hardened coal eyes.

Shaking out of it, Duo made a mental note to destroy the duck…it was just too realistic, and would remind him of these horrible images that flashed bright like neon lights.

"Or maybe you did something that pissed him off." Treize had continued to list reasons, ticking each off on his long fingers. Nodding his head at his last thought he said, "Yeah, that's highly probable."

Duo began to open his mouth in protest, but clamped it shut. It was true, it was highly probable.

Treize began to panic as he watched Duo begin to droop and mope. His usually bright amethyst eyes began to slowly dim out, he slouched further into his chair, even his hair began to lose its luster! Only one thought ran through Treize's mind: Aw, fuck!

Duo suddenly let out a high pitched sigh and then…then the waterworks began.

"Why doesn't he loooove me?" Duo wept as he threw himself at Treize. Treize flinched upon impact and gingerly patted his friend on the back.

"Get a hold of yourself, man!" Treize had secretly always wanted to say that, along with the customary slap but fortune was not on his side as Duo gave off a louder wail and clung on tighter.

"Yo-you don't understand! You're ju-just like _him_." Duo growled, "All lovely-dovey with your pets. It's not fair! It's not fair!!"

Treize gave off a deep sigh, Duo was entering the tantrum phase.

"It's not fair!!" Duo howled as he began to unconsciously shake Treize back and forth and throw in a few punches.

"Why…" Duo gasped out. "Why…won't…he love me? Why Treize…why…_snore…_"

Treize sighed in relief--Duo had cried himself to sleep.

"Mr. Maxwell, I need the Ashwood pape…ers…" Duo's secretary's eyes widened considerably…and was that drool slowly making its way down her chin?

"Ms. Fish…it's not what you think." Treize tried to explain, but was cut off as Ms. Fish wiped the drool of her face and gave a disturbingly happy smile.

"Oh, of course not Mr. Khushrenada. Mum's the word." Ms. Fish began to babble. "Why, you're not even in here…you're at the 2 o'clock meeting with the Head of Bio Engineering. Yes, I didn't see anything at all. Mum's the word, Mr. Khushrenada. Your secret is safe with me. I saw nothing at all. Good day, sir." Ms. Fish gave a small finger wave before disappearing out the door. The door gave a soft 'click'. Stupid cow locked the door!!

Treize looked calm on the outside, but inside he was weeping.

"Nnh…Hee-chan…wub…me…" Duo groaned and curled up into a tighter ball, never once letting go of Treize's arm. "Evil!!" Duo hissed. "Sweet and Sour, you must _die_."

Treize gave Duo a look one would give a raving mad man. He sighed and surrendered to his fate.

- - - - - -

I'm sorry I made Duo so…odd. I felt the need to do something out of the norm…more than usual.

As a note, there really is no Duo x Treize relationship besides odd friendship. Treize merely likes to hide out in Duo's office while he plays hookie. :D

Sorry for the delay. I actually had this chapter out for quite some time. I just wanted to try and get ahead by writing a few chapters in advance. Sadly this failed. So I hope you don't mind just holding tight and seeing how it goes. In an oddly frightful way, this story is controlling me, more than I am controlling it. It has a mind of its own and isn't afraid to use it. :D

Please review, I could use some especially right now. Thanks for sticking with this story.

-Ryuniyo


	17. TriStory

Spoonful of Sugar

Chapter 17: Tri-story

-Ryuniyo

A/N: This chapter will be a bit different from the rest. It is divided into three different sections and will focus on each owner and their respective nehkohs. Hopefully reinstates the 'Sugar" portion of the story. Enjoy.

_Greetings_

- - - -

It had been a tiring day. Two new interns had caused a downsized version of the apocalypse in the Mech Room by simply being horribly incompetent—how the two got the internship was beyond him. He would have to talk to Treize about admission or simply stalk over to the admissions department himself and reign hell—he did have a reputation after all.

As if cleaning up and smoothing over the mess caused by the two interns wasn't tiring and frustratingly enough, someone had programmed all the screens in the Invention Room to play the Barney theme song…on loop. Reflecting back on it now, Duo realized how pathetic it was that the solution ended up being random thwacks and kicks to the central drive with crossed fingers.

As if that wasn't enough, Duo had been locked out of his own office by his own boss. Treize seemed to have deemed Duo's office as his office away from office and had locked him out, claiming that it was for the good of the company. Duo saw very little evidence to support this claim but left it alone. The man was mad, and why bother with a madman so early in the morning?

After that incident Duo found himself finishing up his paper work and outlines in the cafeteria. The constant chattering was hard to mute but Duo plowed on, knowing the consequences of delayed paperwork and outlines.

So now, 9 hours later, Duo found himself angrily jabbing at the elevator button which seemed to take its sweet damn time. A small ping announced its arrive and Duo stormed in, blatantly ignoring the slumped floor of Hiroyuki on the elevator floor—he wasn't dead, a distinctive snore broke the otherwise silent elevator.

Duo got off his floor, gaze slightly lingering on the still snoozing figure on the elevator floor before the doors closed once again. Shaking his head out of sheer habit, Duo trudged over to his apartment, unlocked the door, and tumbled it—only to have a rubber ducky smack him right in the face.

"WHAT THE H—" Duo sputtered looking wildly to find culprit. Blue eyes calmly met his in a level and cool stare. Duo stared dumbly back, aware that he looked like a fish out of water with his mouth hanging open in mid rant. Heero gave him a moderately bored look before walking calmly over and tugging on Duo's pants. Stooping down Duo stared quizzically as Heero simply stared back at him. Losing himself in the curious shades of blue, Duo was startled to find soft paws gently prod his forehead in a soft, fleeting, delicate manner.

"It doesn't hurt." Duo whispered, awed at the surprising show of concern from his usually stoic pet.

Heero continued his gentle inspection before he was satisfied that all was well.

"Hn."

Duo laughed, the stress and fatigue from the day vanished and a feeling of comfort and peace settled in. To an outsider the 'hn' may have been nothing more than a sound of nonchalance but to Duo it meant the world.

_Welcome home._

* * *

_One Lump or Two?_

- - -

The sky was cloudless, an endless sea of wispy blue that dominated the sky—a perfect day to have tea outside. A table was set underneath the oak tree and in the cool shade of the towering oak were two occupants.

"It's a lovely day," Quatre sighed in content as he poured the tea. Trowa simply smiled his reserved smile and nodded in agreement. To him, any day with Quatre was a lovely day. "Don't you look cute today, Trowa!"

Trowa blushed and fidgeted in his chair. It was much to the delight of Quatre's sisters that they had a new victim to play doll with. Today they had dressed him neatly in dark grey pinstripe slacks and crisp white, un-tucked button up with an emerald ribbon neck-tie that brought out his eyes. The top 3 buttons were undone, proudly showing the leather collar that rested around Trowa's neck.

Quatre smiled at his pet's obvious embarrassment, Trowa's cheeks were still tinged with a light dust of pink—even though Quatre complimented him everyday. Trowa was just too sweet.

A companionable silence settled between the two, a gentle breeze rustled the leaves and the sun's rays smiled upon them.

"One lump or two?" Quatre asked holding up the tongs for the sugar cubes.

_None, _thought Trowa, _All I need is you._

* * *

_Man's Greatest Invention_

- - -

"HIIIIIIYAAA!"

Treize stared blearily at the ceiling.

"Not again," he groaned as he tried to shuffle deeper into his blanket, ignoring the fact that it sounded like a xaolin temple decided to relocate into his living room.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOAAA!"

"Pleaaasse," Treize moaned as he tried shuffling deeper, clawing at the last strands of sleep that easily slipped through his fingers like water. He didn't know what time it was but his internal clock told him it was far, far too early to be awake. This is rather impressive for a man who wakes up at 5:30 everyday.

A blood curdling screamed filled the air and was soon followed by a horribly corny evil laugh that filtered through the door.

"Wufei! Turn down the volume!!!"

The volume was instantly lowered to a tolerable level. Even so…

"FATHER! I WILL AVENGE YOU!"

Really, Treize thought, I need to take out the batteries of the damn remote and unplug the T.V. before I go to bed.

-------------------

Yeah…that was…hm. A little something to tide you over until the next update—which will be somewhat dark.

Please review!


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